Clinically Ill
by TsukikoUchu
Summary: Sakura has a chronic illness called Churg-Strauss Syndrome, the rare variation of it, Vasculitis, her dream is to someday find a cure for it and be healthy just like everyone else, alongside her cousin (Shikamaru Nara) whose parents adopt her when her own die during the ninetails attack and best friend (Shino Aburame) nothing will stand in her way not even a lovestruck Kaguya, AU
1. Prologue

~12 years earlier~

"Shikaku" a shrill scream echoed around the Nara Clan Main Family House as the Nine Tailed Fox rampaged through their village "The Children" Yoshino Nara flew into the room, holding her less than one month old son and less than seven month old niece.

"Where's Mebuki and Kizashi" Shikaku turned quickly pulling on his sandals, he was in the midst of going off to the front lines to help the Hokage fend off the beast and protect the village and civilians to the best of his abilities.

Yoshino shook her head "No idea they were supposed to have been back by now, you don't think…." she trailed off staring outside the home as dread pooled in her stomach like a sack of rocks and her stomach churned.

"That will have to wait, you should get to the shelter Yoshino, take the kids and make sure you don't leave behind Sakura's medicine again" the Nara Patriarch instructed his wife taking the two children as she rushed around to gather some things to take to the shelter.

He made sure that her path was clear before they both split up, him to join his teammates, her to the shelters, it was a long drawn out fight until the Fourth Hokage showed up and sealed the Fox inside his own newborn son.

Before dying with his wife and the boy was placed in an orphanage, Shikaku lowered his head in prayer, then went to retrieve Yoshino and the kids "Is it finally over" her eyes held a tint of sadness to them, she'd felt what had happened.

In her arms were a silent Shikamaru and Sakura, the little girls cheeks were red from crying "Yes it's over Yoshino, Lord Fourth and Lady Kushina died and the fox was sealed in their newborn son" he rubbed a heavy hand over his face as they returned home.

The next day the village began repairs and the death count piled up among those dead bodies were Mebuki and Kizashi Nara, Yoshino grieved for the loss of her sister and brother in law, though they were only non-shinobi Nara, and chose to become merchants to support their little family.

Sakura would now never have the chance to know her parents and a few days after their funeral, Yoshino and Shikaku adopted her fully into their own family, there was just one thing they always had to be careful of.

As they raised the pinkette as their own child, to make sure Sakura always took her medicine, for she had a autoimmune disease called Churg-Strauss Syndrome, the rare variation of Vasculitis, which caused her to frequently get sick and it was worse especially if she didn't take her medicine.

~Now~

"Congratulations on all of you becoming shinobi, today is the day you find out who's going to be on you're team, I shall now start with calling off squads and their members" Iruka cleared his throat as the newly minted genin gathered one last time in his classroom.

Two kids had their heads resting on their arms, one napping, the other just quietly listening to her sensei after a bad round of coughing, she was sat next to a boy with a large over coat and wearing sunglasses that blocked his eyes completely.

She didn't know it, but this boy was watching her in silent concern, her head lifted in the next moment as her name was called "Team 7, Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Nara and Sasuke Uchiha, that is it" the chunin that was their academy sensei finished.

"Eh why do we get the sick girl on our team that's not fair Iruka-sensei" the blonde boy immediately started complaining "And the Teme's not any better, I want different teammates" Naruto slammed his hand on the desk.

Sasuke glaring at him from the other end of the desk "I agree Iruka-sensei, saddling me with those two losers just isn't going to cut it, I need strong teammates that aren't going to hold me back on my way complete my goal" he nodded.

While Sakura flinched and buried her face in her arms, it wasn't her fault that she got sick all the time and spent the mass majority of her life being ill "Who are you two to say that I won't be just as or maybe even stronger than the both of you" she glared at the two boys.

Iruka sighed "Regardless of you're personal feelings Naruto, Sasuke, you are teammates and Sakura-chan is on you're team, she had the best scores on the written portion of you're graduation exams after all" he didn't relent to the two boys demands.

"Tch great babysitting duty for all of our training sessions" Naruto sulked sending the pinkette a scowl as they waited for their jonin sensei to come and pick them up, green eyes narrowed and she glared right back with a snort.

Next to her "Ignore them, Sakura, why because they don't know the half of what you can do" Shino tried to cheer her up, he was her best friend after all, considering that beyond him and her cousin, no one else would be her friend because of her chronic illness.

At the statement the young pink haired Nara perked up "Thanks Shino" Sakura brightened exponentially reaching for his hand which was conveniently placed in his pocket, their fingers twined and they faced forward together.

On her other side "Yeah plus, Dad said that you don't collapse as often as you used to when we were younger" her cousin Shikamaru Nara explained with a yawn, itching to glare at the two idiots that had been put on her team.

But not wanting to cause trouble before their sensei's arrived, which so happened to be him first "Team Ten" the Hokage's son called looking around the room and spotting his official genin, he'd already been told of course who he'd be teaching after all.

Shikamaru sighed "Good luck Shikamaru-ni" the fuscia haired girl whispered softly, it wasn't often she called him that, but she did sometimes and it gave him a warm feeling in his chest, he mentally reaffirmed his vow to always look after her no matter what to ensure nothing happened.

Even if she was slightly older than him by six months "Right this is going to be such a drag" the Nara heir groaned as he dragged himself out of his desk to follow his teammates, Ino Yamanaka and Choji Akimichi, the next generation of Ino-Shika-Cho and sensei out of the classroom.

When he was gone she slumped her shoulders with a sigh and lay her head down on the desk once more earning another concerned glance from Shino and just as he was about to say something the door slid open once more.

"Team Eight, I'm your sensei Kurenai Yuhi, follow me please" a beautiful raven haired woman with ruby eyes called out, with great reluctance Shino released Sakura's hand and stood to follow his own teammates and sensei.

Leaving Sakura alone with Sasuke and Naruto, neither of whom so much as even looked her way as they waited in silence for over an hour until Naruto couldn't take it anymore "Gah what a joke, why the hell is our sensei taking so long, fine I'll just prank him" the blonde muttered.

Grabbing an eraser to wedge it between the door and wall so that when their sensei did finally show up it would fall on his head and make him inhale chalk dust, it would totally serve the guy right for being late.

At least that's how he justified his actions anyway "Our sensei's a jonin, he's not going to fall for it Naruto" Sakura commented, only to get glared at by Naruto who obviously didn't care much for her opinion in the least.

Nor did Sasuke but that didn't mean he wasn't willing to at least agree with someone else "Hate to break it to you Dobe but she's right, no Jonin would fall for a stupid prank like that" the second to last remaining Uchiha scoffed in disgust.

Imagine their surprise when five minutes later the door slid open and the eraser fell on the wackiest looking guy they'd ever seen "Did you do that on purpose" the pink haired Nara asked, seeing beneath the underneath.

The guy could have been listening to their conversation the whole time after all "Mm oh I didn't even notice, anyway my first impression of you guys is that I hate you, up to the roof we'll do introductions" the silver haired Jonin declared giving them their first order.

"What how could hate us sensei you just met us" Naruto complained but the man simply disappeared in a plume of smoke, left with little choice the three newly assigned teammates trudged up the stairs to the roof of the academy.

Sakura lagging way behind due to a sudden coughing fit "Kami what a pain you are Nara" Sasuke grumbled seeing that she wouldn't be able to make it up the steps any time soon so decided to simply grab her round the waist and practically drag her to stop wasting time.

"Let go I can manage just fine on my own Sasuke" Sakura snapped, managing to free herself of his grip three steps away from the roof and hurriedly jump the last steps to get away from her handsy teammate, who knew, surely not his stupid fan girls anyway.

Off to the side their sensei watched curiously until they were sat before him "Right like I said introduce yourselves" the silver haired Jonin reiterated wanting to see how they'd react, Sakura was proving to have quite the analytical mind though.

For she narrowed her eyes on him "How about you go first sensei, since I'm sure you already know who we are, what clan we're from and the like, while we know nothing about you" the pinkette countered in a polite tone.

"Touche, very well then the names Kakashi Hatake, things I like, things I hate, hobbies, dreams for the future things I don't feel like telling you" Kakashi shrugged un-apologetically, he was certain that they wouldn't pass his test after all.

Naruto gaped "You only told us your name that's so lame..whatever guess I'll go first, the names Naruto Uzumaki, I like ramen and hate the three minutes I have to wait for it to cook, one of my hobbies is training and my dream is to be Hokage" the blonde huffed.

Making his irritation known, first he gets stuck with his rival and the sick case and now his sensei is not taking them seriously "Okay then you go next girly" the Copy Ninja pointed to his lone female student.

Who straightened "My name is Sakura Nara, I like reading and going on walks around the village, what I hate is my illness, I want to be healthy, so people can stop treating me like an invalid, my dream is to find a cure to my illness someday and my hobby is studying" the rosette announced.

Surprising all three males on her team, last to take his turn was Sasuke "Sasuke Uchiha, I don't like anything, I hate sweets, my hobbies I'll keep them secret and my dream or rather goal is to kill a certain someone" the ebony haired preteen glared.

Introductions done Kakashi stood "Good, good meet me on training ground 7 tomorrow 6a.m, oh and don't eat or you'll puke" the silver haired Jonin saluted vanishing in a plume of smoke, leaving his students to trudge home for the rest of the day to prepare themselves.


	2. Chapter 1

The following morning Sakura was awake at 5a.m. sharp and promptly broke the command to not eat that Kakashi had given as she grabbed a few different kinds of fruits, ate, then took her medicine because she wasn't supposed to take it on an empty stomach.

And not taking it wasn't an option either "Dare I ask why your awake so early Sakura" Shikaku, her Uncle and adoptive Father yawned as he randomly appeared in the kitchen, having been absent when she'd returned home yesterday after meeting her sensei so didn't know.

"Kakashi-sensei wants us, Naruto, Sasuke and I to meet him on training ground 7 for a training session at 6, Shikaku-oji-san" Sakura explained, biting into another one of her chosen fruits, a peach which was extra sweet and juicy.

Shikaku rubbed a hand down his face at that "And I'm guessing he didn't tell you much about himself, right then a warning, he will be always annoyingly late and if he gives you a bell test look beneath the underneath to find the hidden meaning" the Nara Patriarch offered.

Wanting to see his niece succeed especially after her hardships so far "Oji-san" the pink haired Nara tilted her head to the side in question but got a shrug as Shikaku grabbed something from the fridge one of his adult drinks as he liked to call them and disappeared into his den.

He thought he was so clever about it but Sakura smiled at his antics before glancing at the time, then hurriedly polished off her peach, stowed a few apples and other fruits away in her storage pouch and hurried out the door to get to the designated training grounds.

Lo and behold she was the first one there and after coughing for a few minutes, wheezing was more like it from the chronic asthma she scanned the field before her, thinking over possible strategies and calculating out her supplies that she had that she could use.

It was to this that a slow smile spread fully across her face as she went around setting up traps, a weapons launcher hidden in the ground, ninja wire under an illusion tag, exploding tags here and there, before she finally sat to wait.

Next to show up was Sasuke who scowled at her, then sat as far away from her as he could as if he would catch her illness which wasn't contagious "You know Sasuke, we are a team now, you have to get over your pettiness at some point" Sakura pointed out.

Rather bluntly of course and Sasuke flinched, startled because he hadn't thought she'd talk to him obviously "Shut up Nara, you and the Dobe will only hold me back" Sasuke spat, inching further away not that it did him any good.

For Sakura stood and marched over to him, taking a moment to catch her breath before laying in to her teammate spectacularly "Listen here Uchiha, I will not have you belittling me got it, I know that I'm sick but if given half a chance I can and will outdo you" the rosette snapped.

Glaring one of her teammates down until she was overtaken by a coughing fit "Just great, here we are not even six o'clock and you can't stop coughing, why don't you quit sick case" Naruto came storming onto the field last.

Eight minutes shy of the arranged meet up time "Dobe watch it Nara here isn't a pushover" the second to last remaining Uchiha sneered, having clearly been cowed by the lone girl on the team, though he would never admit it.

As for Naruto he simply looked confused then sat, twenty minutes later the whining start "The hell is taking him so long, he was late yesterday to" the blonde complained loudly but it was Sakura who snorted this time.

"My Oji-san said that he'll always be annoyingly late like this but since he is going to be late I need you both to answer my question, did either of you eat" Sakura informed, then decided to question her teammates.

Both of whom shook their heads "What about you Nara, did….that's right I heard that you have to eat because you can't take some sort of medicine for you condition on an empty stomach" Sasuke snapped his fingers in realization.

Sakura nodded and pulled out a couple apples and a couple of tomatoes, remembering what Sasuke had said the other day about not liking anything sweet "Hang on this is against Kakashi-sensei's orders" Naruto blurted.

Eyeing the apples in his lap warily like they were about to explode "Perhaps but anything he's planning will more than likely use up our energy, making us even hungrier, it's called looking beneath the underneath one of the rules" the pink haired Nara announced.

Leaning back against a tree since it would be a long while no doubt, a couple hours probably actually "Say your right then and he is planning on testing us, what would be the point of it, we're already genin, the Hokage would just assign us another Jonin" the ebony haired preteen grunted.

Clearly enjoying his tomato while Naruto hesitantly took a bite of one of the apples he'd been given, only to find it was good and not contaminated "How did you decide that Kakashi-sensei was trying to dupe us anyway" the blonde asked after several minutes.

When both apples and tomatoes had been devoured, Sakura lifted her head from her knee's "Shikaku-oji-san, he hinted and I took it from there, said something about a bell test and to look beneath the underneath" Sakura admitted quietly.

Feeling her lungs seize for another coughing fit, it was then and there that Sasuke decided having her on his team wasn't so bad, since she wasn't a fan-girl, at least her brain could be put to use and Naruto felt a little guilty for treating her badly.

So they shared a look over the top of her head agreeing to get along grudgingly for her sake since she needed teammates that she could rely on "Na…Sakura, I agree to work as a team until you and Dobe prove useless otherwise" Sasuke grumbled.

Obviously reluctant to say that much but it had to be said "Yeah Teme's right, regardless of our personal feelings we were assigned to a team together so we have to learn to get along, starting right now" Naruto nodded.

It would take awhile he was sure for the three of them to get in sync but they could do it, at their declarations Sakura smiled softly "Then I should tell you I rigged the field, I think if we work together we can offset anything Kakashi-sensei throws at us" the rosette informed.

Naruto stared at her in horror while Sasuke smirked "Rigged the field but what if Kakashi-sensei gets hurt" the blonde practically shouted, liking his sensei quite a bit, Sakura rolled her eyes but it was Sasuke who said it.

"Kakashi's a Jonin Naruto, anything that she set up wouldn't harm him unless he purposefully fell for her trap, by the way I heard Nara's can manipulate shadows, are you capable of it" the Uchiha snorted before asking another question.

Getting a nod from Sakura who closed her eyes to rest for a bit longer since this was way to early for even her it seemed, her teammates said nothing, they didn't even speak to one another as she napped until it was nearly eight o'clock.

Five minutes til to be precise and Sasuke gently shook her shoulder "Wake up Kakashi should be here soon if he keeps to the two hour late schedule of yesterday" Sasuke ordered lightly, trying to be considerate.

Thankfully Sakura didn't need that much nudging unlike her cousin and was awake seconds later "Ugh what a morning this is a drag…oops Shikamaru's rubbing off on me, Yoshino-oba-chan will be pleased…not" Sakura grimaced as she said the standard male Nara word.

In the nick of time though as Kakashi finally showed up "Good morning my cute little students" Kakashi smirked, they were probably starving at this point as he reached back to rifle through his pouch for something as his students stood.

"YOUR LATE" Naruto all but shouted, frustrated over that fact as many others were, quite often, beside him Sasuke and Sakura shook their heads and he honed in on that action before he could dwell on that thought though he found what he was looking for.

And pulled them out "See these bells, you have until noon to get them and for the person who doesn't they will go back to the academy and if none of you get one you'll be tied to those posts to watch as I eat your lunch then we'll try again" the silver haired shinobi wiggled the bells in their faces.

While setting a timer to go off at exactly noon "Right then you three better get started, starting now" Kakashi clicked the timer and it began ticking, what he didn't expect was for Sakura to grab both her teammates and disappear into the forest.

"O..Okay si..since I fell asleep we need to work fast, te..tell me some of your skills so I can come up with a proper st..strategy" the pink haired Nara panted, a little out of breath, but not coughing and she thanked her lucky stars for it.

Coughing would be bad right now since they were on the clock "I can do shadow clones, my taijutsu sucks though and I have terrible aim" the blonde ticked off his fingers and Sakura nodded, turning to Sasuke.

Who pinched his arm, reminding himself to be nice "Shuriken jutsu and I can employ the use of elemental jutsu's, fire to be precise, I was the best in taijutsu" the raven grunted, watching the gears practically turn in Sakura's head as she thought up the best strategy to suit them.

Then a grin spread across her lips "Just remember I'm nothing like my lazy cousin" her eyes quite literally sparkled with excitement as she whispered in their ears the plan that she'd come up with on the spot just for them.

Prompting a grin from Naruto and a smirk from Sasuke "Think it's doable, he's probably expecting us to fight amongst ourselves and be unable to work together as a squad after all" Sakura bit her lip wondering if her plan would work.

Apparently confidence was a big issue with her "It's fine Na…Sakura, easy even, you just get in position alright and leave the heavy stuff to Dobe and I" Sasuke shrugged, reminding himself yet again that he had to be nice which meant he couldn't keep calling her by her last name.

"Leave it to us Sakura" Naruto shot a glare at Sasuke for continually calling him that awful name but it could be addressed later as he made five shadow clones of himself and sent them ahead of Sasuke who was probably doing the most.

Or rather the hardest part of the plan, getting Kakashi in the exact position they wanted him, Sakura followed last teaching Naruto how to mask his chakra like she was along the way so their location wasn't so easily found.

By the time they were peeking through leaves of the designated tree, all five shadow clones had been demolished and Sasuke was fighting against their sensei alone, it was to this that Naruto sent more clones to help out.

Ever so slowly Sasuke led Kakashi over to them and just as the man was catching on Sakura acted quick "Now Naruto" the fuscia haired Nara yelled flashing through the hand signs necessary and expanding her shadow to capture Kakashi to hold him in place.

As Naruto dropped from the tree onto their sensei and Sasuke darted forward to snag the bells as Kakashi was struggling to escape and with that their survival test ended as Sasuke came away with the prize they sought just as the shadow retreated.

And Sakura jumped gracefully to the ground "Did you just work together as a team" the silver haired Jonin asked in confusion, this being the first team who hadn't outright fought amongst themselves after he'd told them about going back to the academy.

"Course we did Kakashi-sensei, because we are a team, Sakura came up with the plan though" the blonde sniggered, grateful that Sakura had been right and had brought something for them to eat so that they could perform to the best of their abilities.

Kakashi opened his mouth to rebuff the boy but Sasuke interrupted "Before you say anything, we know, that you were trying to pit us against one another, so you can take that tripe from before and eat it because in the end we're a team" the Uchiha glared.

Now beyond confused Kakashi scratched his chin "Guess the only thing I can do is this, congratulations you three pass, meet me at the Hokage Tower tomorrow at 8a.m. for your first mission" Kakashi declared.

Shocking his students before disappearing on them "Seeing as we have the rest of the day to do whatever we want I'm going home" Sasuke was quick to turn on his heel and hurry from their training field.

One teammate on his heels "Hold on Teme, are you coming Sakura" Naruto paused realizing the lone kunoichi of the team was staying behind, prompting Sasuke to stop as well, in the next moment both boys realized what she was going to do.

"I'm just getting my weapons and stuff, you can go ahead" Sakura waved them off, digging up the weapons launcher and carefully extracting her weapons from it, followed by retrieving her ninja wire and exploding tags, one of which had been set off.

Though when she turned after collecting her weapons she found both of her teammates stood at the edge of the field waiting for her "Seriously I told you that you could go ahead" the pinkette huffed, cheeks burning hot for whatever reason.

Sasuke rolled his eyes "And leave you alone, where you could possibly have an attack of some sort because of your illness, no one would go looking for you for hours Sakura" the raven scoffed, not treating her like an invalid but he was concerned.

"He's right, we're not saying you can't take care of yourself Sakura, but there's always a possibility you could collapse" the blonde nodded in agreement and Sakura scowled at them both before her expression softened just a tiny bit.

Seeing as they were only concerned as teammates should be as they walked her clear across the village to her clans compound just as a familiar jonin was coming out "Ah, Asuma-sensei are you done training Shikamaru and his teammates for the day" Sakura perked up.

Easily remembering the man's name because Shikamaru had told her and she had a near perfect photographic memory, Asuma blinked at her "Yes and who might you be" Asuma finally answered after a couple of minutes.

Of trying to figure out who she was "Sakura Nara, I'm Shikamaru's cousin and adopted sister, on that note see you tomorrow Sasuke, Naruto" the rose haired girl introduced herself, then waved to her teammates and hurried through the gates of her clan compound.

Asuma raised his brow then turned to look at the two boys who'd already left, going in opposite directions of one another so with that he went to report to his Father, the Hokage, to let him know that Team Ten had passed his test, it was there he met Kakashi and Kurenai.

~Meanwhile~

Sakura had hurried down the streets to her house "Yoshino-oba-chan I'm home from training" she called out upon entering, a little giddy, probably because she had two more people to add to her list of people who didn't fear catching her illness anymore.

Yoshino quickly rounded the corner "Welcome home Sakura-chan and honestly you can call me Mother" Yoshino greeted then scolded as she hugged her niece once the girl had taken off her sandals, she knew though that Sakura still wouldn't even after receiving permission.

Case and point as Sakura returned the hug "I know Oba-chan" Sakura said, then bounded off towards the living room, or den as it was called by the male members of their family, where Shikamaru was passed out on the couch.

"Be more careful Sakura-chan, you don't want to end up collapsing again" the Nara Matriarch scolded seeing the excitement and while she was happy Sakura was happy, she didn't want her niece to end up collapsing.

The girl in question smiled sheepishly "Sorry Oba-chan, Sasuke, Naruto and I teamed up against our sensei and beat his test…wake up Shikamaru" Sakura chattered happily before rounding on her cousin and nudging him none to gently.

Only because if she did it the other way he wouldn't wake up "Troublesome, I just got back from training with Asuma-sensei" Shikamaru groaned, knowing better than to ignore Sakura, who put her hands on her hips the same way their mother did.

He quickly sat up "Me to, Naruto and Sasuke agreed that it was better for us to work together after all and we beat our sensei, but I wanted to go see if Shino was done for the day and wanted you to come with me" the pinkette rambled.

Shikamaru slumped his shoulders "Can I cloud watch and nap if he's free, while you two hang out" the Nara heir sighed not denying her what she wanted, her only friend so far has been Shino, though it seemed that was changing a little.

What with Sasuke and Naruto suddenly acting like proper teammates "If you want to Shikamaru" Sakura nodded, Yoshino shook her head at their antics as the two disappeared from the house mere moments after that.

To trek across the village to the Aburame Compound "What did your sensei make you guys do" Shikamaru inquired, curious as he wondered if each of the Jonin had given their students a test to complete before they were officially despite graduating, shinobi of the Leaf Village.

"A bell test, we had to get two bells from him in which he said that whoever doesn't get a bell would go back to the academy, I let Naruto and Sasuke get them, but because we worked together all three of us passed" the fuscia haired Nara explained.

In great detail might he add "Okay, so how did you beat your sensei then" the Nara heir prodded, strategic mind already coming up with possible plans that Sakura had come up with so that she and her teammates could pass their sensei's test.

Her lips pulled up into a smile at his question "Well first Sasuke faced against Kakashi-sensei to maneuver him under a tree, Naruto helped with his shadow clones and then after I caught him in my shadow, Naruto jumped down to hold him and Sasuke got the bells" Sakura grinned.

Vividly remembering the shock in the man's visible iris as they accomplished the task set before them together "Heh bet he'll never underestimate you again" Shikamaru smirked, proud of his cousin and adopted sister.

Four minutes later they arrived at their destination, at the same time Shino was returning from his own team training, he raised a brow "May I ask what brings you here, why because I thought you'd be training with your teams still" Shino questioned.

Leading the way through the forest "First to spend some time together Shino and two I've been done for like thirty minutes" the rosette bounced, happy about something, she would have ran into a tree if it wasn't for him as well.

As he quickly grabbed her gently and directed her around the tree as subtly as possible while she kept their hands linked, fingers entwined, the action coming so easily to her "Oh" the Aburame heir mused.

Casting a side glance at Shikamaru "Was napping but Sakura assured me if I came along that I could nap some more while you two hung out…I'm also done for the day" the Nara heir shrugged, feeling the stare even through sunglasses.

Shino hid a smile "Then hang out we shall, why because it's been far to long since we searched for butterflies" Shino turned to Sakura again, knowing that would get her even more excited, lucky him he knew exactly where said creatures would be at this time of year.

"Really….this is going to be so much fun" Sakura practically squealed, letting her more excitable side come out to play, in moderation of course, because she didn't want to worry the boys on either side of her.

One of whom chuckled under his breath "Just don't go overboard Sakura, Mother would pitch a fit if I brought you back looking like death warmed over" Shikamaru reminded uselessly as Shino disappeared inside his home.

To speak with his Father first, tell him about his morning, then inform him that his friends were there to hang out before grabbing some bug cases and butterfly nets "This way" the Aburame heir gestured down a path.

Leading the way to a flower field "Pretty" the pink haired Nara murmured in awe at the sight that greeted their eyes when they finally made it to their destination and like Shino had promised there were several butterflies fluttering about.

Of all different species to her excitement "Go on have fun" the Nara heir waved the duo off as he found a comfortable spot to lay down and doze off after cloud watching a bit, Sakura took the held out butterfly net that Shino offered and was off to catch some butterflies.

Being careful of course "Shino, Shino, look I think this ones a red admiral" Sakura exclaimed three minutes later, making her first catch and happily showed it to Shino, who was merely watching, allowing her to have fun.

Dutifully he made his way over to her though to affirm whether it was the butterfly she thought it was "Correct, why because of its pattern" Shino nodded after a moment and the butterfly was released, then she was off again to catch a different butterfly.

Keeping in mind to not go overboard and catching butterflies took patience, eventually though she did get a little worn out and joined her cousin on the ground "Have fun did you" Shikamaru was surprisingly awake and she nodded her head with a happy smile.

Simply watching now as the butterflies flew from flower to flower drinking their nectar completely enraptured until her stomach decided to growl letting her know she was hungry "Stay for lunch at the very least" the Aburame heir offered.

Like he had several times before, because he knew that Sakura's condition would worsen at this point in the day, it always did and he was right as she was overcome with a horrendous coughing fit, not because she had went overboard.

But simply because of the change in temperature, it was hotter now "Probably for the best, come on Sakura" the Nara heir nodded, helping Sakura onto her feet and she leaned against him heavily, wheezing now which signaled they better hurry up.

If Shibi was surprised at their intrusion he didn't show it, simply had two more chairs placed around the table "Is she alright" Shibi frowned behind his coat collar as Sakura breathed in and out in a worrying sort of way.

"Just a bit of asthma Shibi-sama, I've got it under control now" the pinkette finally said after a couple minutes in which she managed to get her asthma under control, while filling her plate with the healthiest foods she could.

Shibi eyed her for a moment longer from behind his sunglasses then took the first bite, allowing the others to eat as well "Tell me, how did you two fair during your tests" the Aburame Patriarch asked partway through the meal.

After Sakura had taken her medicine "Managed though it was troublesome" Shikamaru grumbled, polishing off his plate and laying his head down on the table to wait for the others to get done eating, Sakura giggled at him though.

As she swallowed her last bite of food, feeling much better now "Kakashi-sensei tried to pit me and my teammates against each other, but we teamed up against him and beat his test by getting the bells" Sakura informed.

Next to her Shino raised a brow "Interesting, why because yesterday they couldn't stand the thought of being on a team with you" Shino commented, wondering what had changed in that time-frame that would make those two work willingly with one another and Sakura.

It was apparent Sakura didn't know herself as she folded her hands neatly in her lap "Either way it's good that they straightened up and worked with you, if you'll excuse me, I have paperwork, son, Sakura-san, Shikamaru-san enjoy the rest of the day" Shibi excused himself.

Leaving the kids to handle themselves as maids came in and started clearing away the dishes and they headed back out to hang out for a little while longer until Sakura and Shikamaru had to get home for dinner.

Where the rest of the evening was spent in the quiet company of their parents or Aunt and Uncle as the case for Sakura, simply enjoying the downtime, playing strategy or trivia based games before it was time for bed.


	3. Chapter 2

Like instructed after a proper breakfast Sakura showed up at the Hokage Tower twenty five minutes early "Kakashi's not here yet go figure" Sasuke was the only one there so far as he glared at a group of civilian girls whispering and giggling behind their hands at him.

Not that glaring did him any good until Sakura spun and put her hands on her hips "Haven't you anything better to do than gawk, get on we're busy" Sakura stared intently until the girls felt uncomfortable and hurriedly went on their way.

Sasuke was impressed and grudgingly nodded in thanks all his pride would allow for, for right now anyway "Oh come on why does he do this" Naruto was the last to show up at the tower, five minutes before the scheduled time and promptly began complaining.

About their sensei's perpetual lateness, imagine their surprise when fifteen minutes after 8, Kakashi arrived, late sure but not like the days before "Alright, it's time for you to go on your first mission" Kakashi declared.

Leading the way into the tower and to where the missions were assigned "I was wondering when I'd get to see you three" Hiruzen commented knowing their day wasn't going to be a pleasant one with the missions Kakashi had asked for ahead of time.

Which were prepared in a neat little pile in front of him "Yeah Kakashi-sensei said we're here for a mission, is it a super cool A Rank Mission" the blonde bounced, proving to be the most immature of his students by far.

Kakashi sighed "Naruto, you're a genin, which means you only to get to go on appropriately ranked missions such as D Rank missions" the silver haired Jonin rapped the boy on the head with his book, carefully of course.

He didn't want any problems "That's right Naruto, so what are we doing today" the pink haired Nara understood though as she turned to face their Hokage who pushed a pile of five D Rank missions forward.

"Painting a fence, weeding a garden, walking dogs from the pound, cleaning out trash from a river and locating Tora, Madam Shijimi's pet cat who ran away four days ago" the Uchiha read out in horror, these missions were demeaning and practically chores, not missions.

But he kept his mouth shut "Exactly until I feel like your ready, D ranks will become your best friends, I suggest you get use to it" Kakashi said in a no nonsense tone of voice as he led his students from the tower to get started on their missions.

Predictably Naruto complained "Come on these missions are so lame, can't you get us a cooler one like an A ranked mission Kakashi-sensei" Naruto whined clear to the pound since they decided to get that mission done first.

What Naruto didn't count on was Sakura who gripped his ear and yanked "Quit it Naruto, we're shinobi so straighten up your act or else" Sakura narrowed her eyes on her teammate who understood in that moment what Sasuke had meant yesterday by her not being a pushover.

The blonde gulped and edged away from her "I tried to warn you Dobe" Sasuke snorted and Naruto gnashed his teeth and ground them in frustration, he seriously needed to talk to Sasuke about that bloody awful nickname.

Instead of saying anything he simply chose the biggest dog to walk to the others exasperation and it was only thanks to Sakura that he didn't get drug through a minefield "Knucklehead be more careful" the pinkette huffed.

Once all the dogs had been walked and feeling like all of her energy had been zapped, it was inevitable at this point as she began to cough and wheeze "Are you alright Sakura-chan" the silver haired Jonin asked, brow creased in concern.

She held up her hand and managed to stop coughing after a couple minutes "Does your condition worsen at different times in the day" the raven of Team Seven frowned, noting that it was around nine in the morning now.

Which meant the sun was blaring down on them "You should take your medicine so it doesn't get worse then" the blonde ordered when Sakura nodded her head and Kakashi didn't understand a single thing they were talking about.

"Can't, only when at meal times, sorry Kakashi-sensei, you see I have this condition called Vasculitis which inflames my blood vessels, I've had it since I was practically born and it messes up my immune system" Sakura apologized feeling down on herself.

Then there was a hand pressed down on her head "Ease up there Sakura-chan, I know plenty of shinobi who have illnesses and still become strong, lets take a quick break" Kakashi shrugged, wondering how he could have missed this.

Especially since she'd said something about it during her introduction, though it had been late in the day, so it was under control, at his suggestion, Sakura shook her head "I'm fine, I can keep going" the pink haired Nara declared stubbornly.

It was honestly cute of her "Just don't hesitate to ask for help then" Sasuke grunted when they continued on their way to the next mission which was to paint a picket fence sunshine yellow, Sakura found this task rather easy.

And enjoyable "I don't get it" Naruto scratched his head in confusion, hearing Sakura hum while they painted, like she was having the best fun of her life, these missions were demeaning and yet Sakura was having fun.

"Maybe not Naruto-kun, Sakura-chan's a complicated sort of girl, understanding her would be impossible" the Copy Ninja ruffled his messy blonde locks until Naruto glared and moved as far away as he could to continue the mission.

Until the fence had been entirely painted and the civilian thanked them repeatedly "On to the next I suppose, weeding the garden" the second to last remaining Uchiha chose the next mission to complete.

Wanting Sakura to have as much rest as possible before they got to the harder missions, he doubted cleaning the river or catching Tora would be easy after all "Seriously this is…" the blonde began forgetting for a moment until he felt a stare bore into the side of his head.

So he quickly shut his mouth, Sakura snickered under her breath, thankful for the lesson Yoshino had given her to reign in obstinate males "Say Kakashi-sensei what do you have planned for tomorrow" the rosette asked suddenly.

Before they made it to the clients house "And your asking why Sakura-chan, do you have a training session with your parents or something" Kakashi shifted his gaze to his kunoichi and wondered if she was having second thoughts.

"Oba-chan and Oji-san is more like it but no, just curious, plus if I don't train a certain amount a day I'll loose muscle mass due to my condition" Sakura admitted quietly to her teammates horror because they hadn't thought her illness was that bad.

Just where she coughed or wheezed a lot but to think if she didn't train she would lose muscle mass and weight, they never even knew "Your condition sounds like a nightmare Sakura" Sasuke scowled wondering why she chose to become a kunoichi in the first place.

Her efforts while admiral were reckless to "Now I understand why you want to find a cure and why you don't like being treated as an invalid" Naruto commented, Kakashi however was silent as they got to work on their third mission.

Sakura kept Naruto from pulling more than the weeds of the clients garden and Sasuke managed just fine on his own, though he occasionally shot Sakura looks to make sure she was alright before the mission was finished.

Then it was off to clean out the river of trash "In the words of my cousin, how troublesome" the pink haired Nara sighed seeing how bad the trash accumulation was in the river as they were handed sticks and bags to put the trash in once it had been extracted.

"Agreed" the raven haired preteen scoffed, cursing out the people who'd done this, didn't they know how to pick up after themselves, obviously not, as they simply got to work, Sakura struggled with this one though.

For the trash evaded her time and time again "Okay Sakura-chan you've done enough, rest until it's time for our final mission" the silver haired Jonin in charge ordered, seeing that she was on the verge of another attack.

She'd filled four bags up anyway so the boys could finish "Yeah, leave it to us Sakura" the blonde waved her off and with a forlorn sigh Sakura trudged wearily from the shallow part of the river to sit in the shade of a large tree to rest.

Preventing another coughing fit and before they knew it, they were hunting Tora who was soon caught thanks to Sakura catching the runaway pet with her shadow hold jutsu "Nice work you three, I'm rather impressed" Kakashi commented as they got their pay for missions well done.

They'd honestly surprised him "Bah D Ranks are for babies Kakashi-sensei" Naruto rolled his eyes, still not happy that they were getting saddled with such lame missions, he wouldn't dare complain in front of Sakura to much though.

Simply because she scared him "So what's the plan for tomorrow" Sasuke reiterated Sakura's earlier question, wanting to know so that he could properly prepare, Kakashi eyed them, then thought over his sole female students confession.

And based his decision off that "Training, I'll teach you how to mask your chakra, it's an essential skill after all, avoiding detection that is, along with a little stamina training or taijutsu" the Copy Ninja shrugged, deciding that maybe it wasn't so bad having them under his command.

"Great, can't wait see you tomorrow Kakashi-sensei….oh wait you didn't say what time" Sakura smiled brightly, stunning the boys on either side of her, because they'd obviously never received a smile like that in their entire life in the academy.

Kakashi chuckled "The time we met up this morning will do, now dismissed" he clapped his hands shooing his students off to do whatever they wanted for the rest of the day and watched them scamper off to parts unknown.

Or rather one of them and he was curious as Naruto rounded on Sasuke with a scowl "Teme your such a bastard….don't I deserve the same courtesy as Sakura, the use of my name, I'm not a loser got it" the blonde snapped.

Clearly past his limit of tolerance "Fine now settle down Do…Naruto" the second to last remaining Uchiha grumbled, clearly brooding as he gave in and called Naruto by his actual name as they finally headed in opposite directions.

By the time they'd done that Sakura was already home in time for lunch "Sakura-chan how was your morning" Yoshino greeted like the day before, pulling a quiche from the oven and Sakura's stomach growled in response to the mouth-watering smell.

"Had a couple fits but other than that it was good, we got to do five missions, D Ranks, but missions all the same and Kakashi-sensei said he was going to teach us how to mask our chakra and do a little stamina or taijutsu training tomorrow" the rosette chattered.

Making herself comfortable at the table, the males absence for the time being "It's a wonder how you got that man to be your sensei in the first place, every other prospective team assigned to him he failed and yet you and your team managed" the Nara Matriarch mused aloud.

Juicing some tomatoes to have fresh tomato juice to drink "All we did was work as a team and told him that we were a team and nothing could pit us against one another" Sakura shrugged not to sure herself.

But Yoshino understood "Don't worry about it, for now lets enjoy lunch just the two of us, since those two aren't back yet" Yoshino presented the quiche and tomato juice and her niece was all to happy to dig in and fill her growling stomach.

Remembering to take her medicine at the same time once she had some food in her gut "Thanks for lunch Oba-chan, I'm going to go upgrade my equipment, maybe even get a new whetstone to sharpen my weapons on" the pink haired Nara declared.

Practically jumping out of her chair as if it was on fire once she was done eating, three pieces of quiche and two glasses of tomato juice "Be careful please" the Nara Matriarch called after her niece, having had only two pieces of quiche and one glass of tomato juice.

Leaving plenty for Shikaku and Shikamaru who would no doubt be hungry when they finally did get home, in the meantime Sakura had left the compound for the second time that day, feeling better since she'd taken her medicine, not as achy.

And went straight for a weapons shop to upgrade her equipment, it was as she was looking over the swords, wondering if she should at least learn that someone cleared their throat "Excuse me but your blocking the way kid, my friend wants to take a look at those swords" someone said.

Her brow raised "There's plenty of room isn't there" Sakura turned eyeing the two older males, one of whom shot her an amused smiled before coughing into his hand, rousing her curiosity, but she kept her question to herself.

"Look what we have here Hayate a gutsy little genin, your right, however you've been standing here for so long" the mahogany eyed man informed at least she knew one of their names now though as her eyes went wide.

Before her cheeks colored in embarrassment "Sorry I get lost in thought a lot, thinking over whether a weapon would suit me or the pro's and cons of it" the rosette bowed lightly and went to hurry off to another aisle.

Only to be stopped by a hand on her shoulder "Genma's just messing with you, see he likes to pick on the new graduates to test their mettle or something it's a game, you weren't in my way or anyone's way" Hayate said to the young girl.

That they still didn't know the name of "Oh….hehehe, I suppose since I know both of your names I should give mine, Sakura Nara, pleased to meet you" Sakura smiled bright at Hayate who returned her smile with a small one of his own.

As for Genma he simply sulked "You're a Nara huh, I thought you guys relied on your shadows and all that jazz" Genma questioned watching her look over the swords until she finally chose one it was the perfect length for her as well.

Sakura nodded "Typically, but I like learning different things, such as my element or genjutsu, one can never rely on one thing for their entire life after all" the pink haired Nara announced heading for another aisle.

Leaving them behind for only a moment as Hayate grabbed an appropriately sized sword to replace his broken one and they hurried after her "Interesting, are your parents supportive of you branching out like you are" the mahogany eyed brunet questioned.

When Sakura was reaching for the high shelf to grab a whetstone "Very" Sakura answered pausing for a moment, and they glimpsed sadness within the depths of her emerald eyes, then she was back to trying to reach the high shelf again.

"Did something happen" the onyx eyed brunet coughed, watching her struggle until she managed to reach her goal and retrieve a whetstone that was placed in a basket that was hanging off her arm, at the new question she lowered her gaze.

Before sighing "My parents died during the nine tail's attack, my Aunt and Uncle adopted me, they are supportive though" Sakura admitted quietly, not really liking to talk about her real parents much since she'd never gotten to meet them properly.

It was something she use to wish for a lot but that wish had never came true so she'd given up and accepted the cold hard fact that they would never come back "I see" Hayate grimaced as Sakura wandered down another aisle.

This one had other weapons "Our apologies that was an insensitive question, I apologize on Hayate's behalf" Genma murmured, then pushing his friend towards the check out counter they left Sakura to conduct her business.

Upgrading her equipment as she had said by getting new kunai and shuriken, another thigh holster since her other one was practically falling apart, a new roll of wire, a pack of exploding tags, blank scrolls and the like.

Once she was sure that she'd gotten everything Sakura made her way towards the check out counter as well and after paying for all of her new gear with plenty left over she found a shop that sold comfortable clothing.

New outfits and the like were bought and finally Sakura went home in time to see her cousin return "Please don't tell me you were alone out there" Shikamaru groaned when she entered the house a few minutes after him.

Sakura quirked her brow at him "I was fine Shikamaru, I didn't even cough while I was out" the pinkette snorted with a roll of her eyes, she was perfectly capable of going out on her own every once in awhile.

"Anything could have happened Sakura" the Nara heir frowned as he set his sandals out of the way and stood allowing Sakura to sit so she could also take off her own sandals, then helped her on to her feet once she was done.

Though at his statement she sighed "Shikamaru-ni I don't need to be babysat all the time you know" Sakura scoffed, marching into the living room where Yoshino was sewing, Shikaku napped on the couch opposite her indicating he was home as well.

Yoshino looked up though when the two entered the room and smiled "What a drag" Shikamaru grumbled, rubbing a hand down his face as he did so as Sakura sat next to their mother and showed off what she'd bought.

"Cute, just like you Sakura-chan and practical, they'll help you during tomorrow's training with your team" Yoshino giggled at the new clothing her niece had bought, black mesh, a black tank top, black shorts and black sandals.

Unfortunately their clan crest would need to be added "Kakashi actually agreed to train you, I heard from Asuma that he said Kakashi was going to slot you with D Rank Missions" Shikaku raised his head speaking in an incredulous tone.

Sakura bobbed her head eagerly in answer "Uh-huh, he's going to teach us how to mask our chakra properly and then give is a bit of stamina training or have us practice taijutsu" the fuscia haired Nara announced.

Quite happily to Shikamaru's exasperation as he pulled out his shogi board to play a game against himself "Good for you kiddo, seems he's taking having a squad under his command seriously" the Jonin Commander grunted.

Yawning then he closed his eyes intent on napping a bit longer "Just remind me to add our crest on your new clothes okay Sakura-chan" the Nara Matriarch smiled as the clothes were folded neatly and Sakura disappeared to her bedroom.

"Such a troublesome girl" the Nara heir groaned, having mixed thoughts about Sakura becoming a full-fledged genin, on one hand he was happy, the other not so much, it was risky and Sakura had been way to excitable lately.

Eventually Yoshino put away her project to go set up things for dinner, where they came together as a family once more when it was done and hours later the family of four settled down for the night to get some shut eye.

Then like the previous morning after breakfast Sakura dashed off to meet up with her team for training and the like, whatever Kakashi taught them anyway, dressed in her new training outfit, new gear situated upon her person.

"Whoa Sakura that's quite the get up" to her surprise Naruto was the first one there, still dressed in his bright orange outfit, it was something she would have to talk to the boy about, ninja were supposed to be sneaky but his bright clothing simply made him into a target.

Like her hair which was hidden under a dark brown wig for the day "Yeah I got this and a couple other outfits with our pay from yesterdays missions, but listen Naruto, your clothing is to loud" Sakura grinned, then frowned.

Trying not to sound mean "She's right Do…Naruto, it makes you a target, which is why I got you this" Sasuke appeared moments after she had, holding out a bag for Naruto to take and when the new clothes were unfolded.

Revealed a dark orange jumpsuit with mesh and dark blue sandals "Te…Sasuke why did you waste your money on me like this" the blonde frowned, conflicted obviously and Sasuke turned his head away and grumbled something under his breath.

Sakura giggled "I don't think Naruto heard you Sasuke, might want to speak up" the pinkette teased, feeling comfortable in doing so, Sasuke's cheeks turned red in mortification but took a deep breath to say it again.

"For all the times I have called and will probably call you a Dobe, even if it's by accident a person can't change overnight Naruto" the Uchiha grunted, scowling, complete with glaring at the ground and arms crossed over his chest.

Missing Naruto's happy expression before the boy dashed into the forest to change, when he emerged Sasuke and Sakura nodded in acceptance "Much better" Sasuke commented, raising a brow at Sakura who wore a wig.

Earning a snort "I'm not oblivious Sasuke, my hair would be seen from a mile away so I got a wig, the whole point of today's training after all is to learn how to avoid detection" Sakura huffed, Sasuke simply nodded.

While Naruto grinned "Guess we had it wrong about you Sakura, your more than capable" Naruto admitted, slinging an arm around her shoulders hesitantly, remembering her reaction to Sasuke grabbing her a couple days ago.

But Sakura smiled and returned his hug, and just as they were contemplating sitting their sensei showed up "Morning my cute little students" Kakashi greeted, only thirty minutes late today, trying to show that he was serious about training them.

"Punctual, hmm I like it Kakashi, oomph" the raven snorted only to get lightly elbowed in the side by Sakura, he was more surprised by it than it actually hurting and that's why he reacted in the way he had to his embarrassment.

Naruto sniggered under his breath before glancing to his sensei "We're ready whenever you are Kakashi-sensei" the blonde declared eager for their training session to begin, it was then Kakashi seemed to notice their outfits.

And he raised a brow in question "The whole point of avoiding detection is to not be seen or felt right, well our bright outfits or hair painted targets on our backs, hence the reason for the outfit changes or why I'm wearing a wig" the pink haired Nara explained.

Kakashi nodded "Your exactly right Sakura-chan but lets start start our morning off with a lecture of sorts, chakra control will play a big part in you being able to mask your chakra after all" the silver haired Jonin clapped his hands.

Becoming more serious as he gestured his students closer "First you'll want to take your chakra and wrap a thin layer of it around yourself, suppressing your scent and chakra along with it" Kakashi instructed.

Obsidian iris watching them attempt the technique, so it was no surprise to him when Sakura's scent and chakra nearly vanished completely "Hey this is like what you tried to explain to me a couple days ago Sakura" Naruto exclaimed.

Managing the task a little better than the day of their survival test, though his chakra was still very noticeable "It is what I tried to explain to you Naruto" Sakura deadpanned, attempting to hide her chakra and scent entirely.

And accomplishing this task a few minutes later, Sasuke was the next one to complete the task set before them "Hn a handy skill indeed" Sasuke grunted, though he was no chakra control expert like Sakura it seemed he could manage.

Soon all three of them could mask their chakra, Naruto would need a little work though "Okay, this is where it gets harder, run into the forest, I'm going to send someone after you and if your found within five minutes you have to take on three D Rank Solo Missions" the Copy Ninja said.

Setting a penalty, Naruto gulped but the three of them dutifully ran into the forest, spreading out as they did so, Kakashi was surprised when Naruto's chakra faded a little more to where it wasn't as noticeable as before then sent Pakkun after his students.

Hidden close to the clearing Sakura eyed the ninken warily as he passed right under her spot high in the tree, his nose to the ground, she watched as he lifted his head scanning the tree's and she shifted to better hide not wanting penalty missions.

Then to her lucky stars the summons must have caught someones scent and disappeared in a dust cloud, she breathed out a sigh of relief "Mm" the rosette spread out her senses, leaping from branch to branch.

And with difficulty located Sasuke who nearly shouted in fright when she dropped down into the bush he was hiding in "Don't do that" the Uchiha scowled and she sent him an apologetic frown as they peered warily out of their hiding place.

Right as they were contemplating going back to the clearing as the time limit passed a yell echoed in their ears and they knew who it was from "I better not get penalty missions cause I stepped on a stupid trap" the blonde sulked appearing out of no where.

So the three of them together headed back to where their sensei was waiting "Not bad for your first run of it, rather ingenious Naruto-kun, to use shadow clones to avoid Pakkun, you'll get the hang of it eventually the more we practice, you two were as I expected" Kakashi praised.

Not leaving out a single student, treating them equally as was proper "But now it's time for actual training right" Sasuke asked wanting to stretch his muscles a bit even though he had run a bit to find a good hiding spot.

Though it had done little good what with Sakura having been able to find him "Yes, I decided we'll do taijutsu spars, keep it moderate boys because your paired against each other, Sakura your with me" the silver haired ninja commanded.

Dividing them up into pairs of two "Good luck Sakura" Naruto waved, marching determinedly to a spot far away but still close enough so that no one else got hurt from stray weapons or even jutsu's that would just be awful.

His statement earned a smile "I'm ready Kakashi-sensei" Sakura informed, stretching first so she didn't accidentally pull a muscle and then the spar began, Kakashi tensed a little before making the first move by throwing a kunai.

Aware of what she could and couldn't do she ducked and tossed her own weapon, darting after it quickly to get in close "Despite your health issues your rather quick on your feet" Kakashi said when he found her in range.

Pulling her fist back, "Just on my feet Kakashi-sensei, I'm not the best at taijutsu though" the pinkette sighed as her punch missed entirely as Kakashi cartwheeled backwards out of range, with her first plan failed Sakura thought over her options again.

Before smiling again while pulling out a smoke bomb, disappearing from his senses "Already using that against me Sakura-chan that's playing dirty" the silver haired Jonin scratched his head as the smoke cleared and his student was no where to be seen.

Just as he was beginning to think that maybe he should get out of the way Sakura jumped out of the ground before him, fists swinging and nearly got him in the chin "Shoot, I was so close" Sakura scowled at herself.

"Perhaps if I were a normal opponent and not a Jonin that might have worked Sakura-chan" Kakashi chuckled enjoying the game until it was apparent that she couldn't go on due to the asthma attack that suddenly seized her.

This also ended Naruto and Sasuke's spar, both of whom were breathing heavily with a sheen of sweat on their skin but no injuries "Okay lets get you home Sakura, we're done for the day right Kakashi" the second to last remaining Uchiha glanced to Kakashi.

Who nodded "Take her home, good work you three, we'll do missions tomorrow, show up at 8" the Copy Ninja dismissed his students and watched as the two boys helped Sakura to her feet where she'd slumped to the ground.

"Come on Sakura we've got you" the blonde assured keeping his arm around Sakura's waist to help support her as they walked to the other side of the village where her clan compound was located.

And she was never so grateful of them for having a change of heart "See you tomorrow for missions Naruto, Sasuke" the pink haired Nara waved, and got matching waves in return before she turned and entered her house, where she stayed for the rest of the day doing nothing.


	4. Chapter 3

Missions and training lasted clear up to a month until Kakashi finally wore down at Naruto's pouting and gave in by giving them a C Rank Mission "Just the one, to see how much more training you need" Kakashi stated.

As they headed towards the room where missions were handed out "Fair enough so stop complaining already Naruto" Sasuke grunted, wondering if they were even ready for a higher ranked mission other than D.

Even if they were murderous, he'd prefer them due to one little thing, his gaze shifted to Sakura who was having a very bad morning, she'd been late to the meet up by seven minutes, and looked as if she was about to collapse at any given moment.

"You gonna be okay Sakura-chan" Naruto was the only one to ask, having switched to much more friendly suffix, Sakura jolted and nearly tripped, Kakashi was quick though as he turned and caught his student before she tumbled back down the steps.

Sakura heaved a long suffering sigh as she was set properly on her feet again "I'll be okay at some point, my medicines just taking a bit longer to work this morning is all" Sakura admitted quietly taking Naruto's hand who sported a guilty look for nearly making her fall.

If Kakashi had been any second slower she would probably be in a world of pain right now "Sakura is fatigue a normal symptom to your condition, what about any other symptom we haven't seen yet" the Uchiha asked.

Though it did make sense why she was all the time laying her head on the desk in class back when they'd still been in the academy "One of them, my joints get achy, I vomit sometimes, belly pain happens a lot but those are just a few symptoms and there's many more" the rosette nodded.

Grateful as they finally reached their destination Naruto reluctantly let go of her hand "Tell us more later alright for now lets just find out what kind of mission Kakashi-sensei's going to get us" the blonde requested.

Wanting to know as much as he could about his teammates illness "Ah here for more D Rank missions I assume" Hiruzen chuckled when Team Seven entered the room to get some missions for the day.

Color him surprised when Kakashi actually shook his head "C Rank, to evaluate them on what else we need to work on" the Copy Ninja said carefully, shooting his students an exasperated glare, even if they had exceeded his expectations so far.

Hiruzen frowned for a moment then searched through the pile "If your sure Kakashi-kun, will this one do, a C Ranked escort mission to the Land of Waves" the Hokage held out the scroll as he found it and Kakashi took it to read through.

"Protect a bridge builder, hmm" Kakashi read off, then turned to his students two of them looked conflicted while his last student looked rundown, it was up to them after all if they wanted to take it, if they didn't, it would be right back to D Ranks.

Finally after what seemed an eternity "Okay works for us, we'll just have to be extra careful" Sasuke breathed out, casting Sakura a concerned look, as was the Hokage who knew of her condition, all of them wondering if she'd be able to handle this mission.

"So when do we meet this client of ours" Naruto interrupted kind of sensing that the staring was making Sakura uncomfortable, if the way she'd suddenly gone tense was any indication since she was stood next to him.

His efforts earned a small smile "Tomorrow, you'll set out afterwards, Sakura-chan will you be able to accompany them on this mission, if not I can find a temporary replacement" Hiruzen directed his gaze back to Sakura again.

Who pursed her lips "A replacement who might not be able to get along with these two, I'll be okay Hokage-sama, like Naruto said we'll just have to be extra careful" Sakura stated, not wanting to be exempt it wouldn't be fair and she was kinda looking forward to this mission.

The wizened old man nodded and they were dismissed to prepare for tomorrow "Will your Aunt and Uncle even allow you to go" her raven haired teammate asked as they followed her to her clan's compound and inside of it.

Viridian orbs narrowed "It won't be easy convincing them that's for sure" the pink haired Nara grimaced turning down a couple of streets until she was home, and since it was her house she didn't knock, calling out as she did so.

But got no answer "Odd I don't sense anyone" the blonde frowned taking off his sandals anyway since Sakura and Sasuke were then followed them into the living room which was empty, there Sakura found a note with her name on it.

Explaining that there was shopping that needed to be done "Yoshino-oba-chan" Sakura shook her head with a small giggle before plopping down on the couch to wait, feeling a little better now as her medicine finally kicked in.

"Hey you don't look as pale now Sakura-chan guess your medicines working now huh" Naruto burst out seeing her skin color slowly begin returning to normal, though she was still rather pale it was mostly her skin color now.

In answer Sakura nodded "Do you know why it does that, takes time for it to work especially when it works normally every other time you take it" Sasuke frowned trying to come up with whatever reason there was for that.

Unbeknownst to them someone had just gotten home "Usually it means that her medicine is loosing it's effects, which indicates she needs a new prescription of it" Shikaku stepped into the living room and two of the genin jumped.

Not Sakura though because she'd seen him "Really so you have to constantly change the prescription of your medicine" the Uchiha on the team asked, it still bugged him quite a bit how much she'd had to suffer through the academy and he'd only made things worse for her there.

"Yeah, sometimes the dosage is higher or lower depending on the ch….I'll have to do that today Shikaku-oji-san cause Naruto, Sasuke and I have an out of village mission" the rosette straightened in realization.

And Shikaku was none to pleased to hear that "Out of village mission Sakura, think of how Yoshino will feel" the Jonin Commander said, reminding the girl of her troublesome Aunt that he loved to death but nagged to insanity.

Sakura furrowed her brow in consternation "I am, I know she won't like it, nor will Shikamaru but I'm not helpless Oji-san, I have my teammates and sensei to rely on as well" Sakura said slowly trying to say it in the right way that he would understand.

Shikaku rubbed a hand down his face "What a drag, fine, fine troublesome girl, I'll go set up the appointment but you're the one that's going to have to convince Yoshino and Shikamaru" Shikaku groaned before turning on his heel and disappearing from the house to do as he said.

"That…..was interesting" the blonde haired Uzumaki commented, unsure of how to describe what they'd just bore witness to, Sakura's family was weird that's all he would say on the topic really, Sakura sighed and lay back on the couch.

Just relaxing until the next person came home "Oh I didn't realize you were back Sakura-chan, Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun" Yoshino gasped upon entering the living room and seeing that her niece/daughter was home and her teammates were with her.

For her efforts she got a wave from the boys while Sakura sat up "Yoshino-oba-chan my team and I have a mission…outside the village for a few weeks" the pinkette began only to be cut off as Yoshino's face went from happy to scowling in seconds.

And she couldn't help but wince "Absolutely not, you will not be going" Nara Matriarch put her hands on her hips as if signaling that was the end of the conversation but Sakura wasn't deterred like her uncle and cousin were all the time.

"Oba-chan I understand you have my health in mind but they and I have promised to be extra careful" Sakura responded calmly, not wanting to fight with her aunt but that didn't mean she was going to sugarcoat things either.

The woman bristled in anger before deflating as the fight left her "I worry about you Sakura-chan, alright on one condition, just come home, that's all I ask" Yoshino sighed, and Sakura was all to eager to nod, relenting to her demand.

With that she turned on her heels and headed into the kitchen to put away the shopping "Are all moms scary like that" Naruto rubbed his arms, swearing that he'd felt a little killing intent coming from Yoshino Nara.

"Unfortunately Do…Naruto, so until your uncle and Shikamaru get back we should start thinking about what we need to take on the mission with us" Sasuke directed the conversation to something productive and Sakura sat up again.

Looking much, much better than earlier "First what would you suggest Sasuke" the rosette asked, mentally ticking off things before he even began so that she could contribute to the discussion at hand, they only had until tomorrow after all.

Sasuke blew out another breath "Clothes and food, maybe even extra weapons" the raven listed and Naruto drew out a pad and pencil from his pouch to scribble those things down, even if it wasn't necessary, Sakura would remember all that and more.

"Perhaps we should bring along other things like cleaning supplies and lots of water, a survival kit, sleeping bag or mat those sorts of things I mean" the blonde added and got a nod for his efforts as those items were also scribbled down.

Yoshino couldn't help but smile at their antics as she entered the living room again with a healthy snack and even healthier tea "Will you join us for the evening meal Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun so that we can all wish you luck on your mission" the Nara Matriarch requested hopefully.

Both boys nodded "And hey you really don't have to worry so much, me and Sasuke will take good care of Sakura-chan out there, believe it" Naruto declared seriously and she was finally able to see why Sakura had made it so far as a genin.

Her teammates had changed from who they once were "Naruto's right and Kakashi won't let anything happen to her either, though I doubt she'll need us to much, Sakura can be scarily smart when the time calls for it" Sasuke added as an afterthought.

And she tried not to laugh "Right, enjoy your snacks, I'm going to go get lunch prepped" Yoshino waved then vanished back into the kitchen to do that as the genin continued their talk about what they should bring on the mission.

Until finally Shikaku returned "You're appointment is at 3:15 Sakura, make sure you don't forget it" the Nara Patriarch yawned, getting comfortable on a couch and moments later he was snoring, Naruto and Sasuke looked disturbed.

"Don't let him fool you, he's a light sleeper, unlike Shikamaru, though since my appointment isn't until nearly dinner we can go out after lunch to get what we need for the mission" Sakura grinned knowing how they felt, but it was something she was largely use to.

So the three of them sat chatting for a half an hour longer until Yoshino called them in for lunch, where Naruto and Sasuke thanked the woman for the delicious meal before the genin of Team Seven set forth out into the village to shop for their mission.

They got all manners of things, and in one shop they even ran into Shino "Are you sure" Shino wasn't as convinced as Shikaku and Yoshino that Naruto and Sasuke had changed as much as his friend was saying.

"Pretty sure Shino, don't worry I'll be fine and I'll see you when I come back that's a promise" the pink haired Nara held out her pinky, Shino frowned for a moment longer before finally giving in and linking their pinkies.

Before letting go "You promised don't forget" the Aburame heir turned and left the shop they were in, leaving them to finish up in time to make it to Sakura's appointment where she was poked and prodded for half an hour.

"Looked painful" her raven haired teammate grimaced, feeling sympathetic of her plight, no wonder she wanted to find a cure, so she didn't have to be poked and prodded at like that anymore, in answer Sakura nodded her head solemnly.

And Naruto pat her shoulder gently "At least you got your new prescription of medicine for the next month right Sakura-chan and we can go on that mission tomorrow with no problems" the blonde reminded trying to cheer his teammate up and got another small smile.

When they got back to the house, Shikamaru was just putting his sandals on "I was about to go find you" Shikamaru paused, looking his sister/cousin over carefully trying to see if he could find anything out of place.

Sakura sighed "Had shopping to do Shikamaru, for a mission" Sakura explained taking off her sandals, while Shikamaru froze, mouth opening and closing like he was imitating a fish, until after a couple minutes he found his voice again.

"Mission, absolutely not, Mom won't allow you to go" the Nara heir scowled, agitated at the thought of Sakura going off on a mission to who knows where and possibly coming back in a body bag, he wouldn't allow it.

This comment earned him an eye roll "Yoshino-oba-chan already agreed Shikamaru, there's no arguing I'm going and that's, that" the pinkette informed, hands on her hips but Shikamaru wasn't about to back down on this.

"What happens if you get sick out there or run out of medicine or get hurt huh, it would be a real drag you know so I forbid you from going, find someone else to take your place on the mission" Shikamaru shot back not happy in the least.

But Sakura glared fiercely in response "Naruto, Sasuke and I have appropriately prepared for our mission Shikamaru and you can't prevent me from doing anything, Oba-chan and Oji-san have already agreed to let me go" Sakura declared.

Narrowing her eyes and daring him to argue further, Shikamaru didn't get the hint to back down though and went to open his mouth again when he was interrupted "Does it escape you Nara, that she has us, Kakashi, Naruto and I to help her" Sasuke interjected.

Arms crossed over his chest, his expression was one of immense irritation "Plus Sakura-chan isn't as incapable as you think" Naruto chimed in helpfully, having seen Sakura do many things this past month despite her condition.

Shikamaru continued to imitate a fish until the fight left him "What a drag" the Nara heir groaned, slouching in defeat before trudging into the living room, Sakura simply pressed her lips together and followed after him until the lot of them were gathered in the den.

It was then that Shikaku, Yoshino and Shikamaru realized that Sakura really would be leaving "You sure we can't change your mind Sakura-chan, I know Hokage-sama would understand" Yoshino tried once more.

Though the effort was in vain as Sakura shook her head resolutely "Please, I'm not saying your teammates or sensei are incapable, but what if their not able to get to you in time" Shikamaru frowned not liking this in the least.

She wouldn't budge on her decision though "Then will you at least take this" Shikaku held out a scroll and Sakura took it carefully, eyes widening when she saw what it was and she looked at him in honest surprise.

"Deer summons" the pink haired Nara gasped, she'd heard that the clan had summons but very rarely was it signed by anyone in the clan, and she wondered if she was even worth of such an honor, they were picky after all.

Shikaku nodded "Yes, the clans summons and I believe they will accept you as their new summoner, the first in twenty years" the Jonin Commander announced, hoping that he was right on that so he had some form of reassurance that Sakura would be alright outside the village.

Viridian orbs brightened with excitement and soon the lot of them were in the backyard "Great idea Shikaku now she has a means of communication with us" the Nara Matriarch breathed a sigh of relief, also assured now.

Her husband nodded and watched carefully as Sakura unrolled the summons scroll, bit her thumb then signed her name and printed her fingerprints in blood on the blank slot before forming the hand signs necessary "Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu" she pressed her hand on the ground.

Watching in a small amount of fascination as a patchwork of seals spread out in a circle, followed by a large plume of smoke and when it cleared, revealed the largest stag she'd ever seen up close and personal anyway.

The creature stood tall and proud before her "Interesting it has been twenty years since any of us have formed a contract with someone and been summoned like this, I am Koatsu, the Leader of the summons and you are Sakura Nara correct" the Stag introduced himself.

Glancing down at the young girl in front of him, she was sitting though upon being addressed she stood and bowed lightly "Yes Koatsu-san, I'm Sakura" the fuscia haired Nara nodded once she'd straightened out of her bow.

Koatsu bowed his head being polite in return allowing all a good look at his antlers, long and windy and very sharp at the ends "And what words of promise do you give to me to try and manipulate me into agreeing to accept you as my summoner" Koatsu spoke after a short time.

In which he'd stared at the young girl, looking her over "Koatsu-san I have no intention of manipulating you, I only ask that you consider me as your summoner" Sakura immediately frowned and shot a look at her Uncle who shrugged.

He didn't remember this particular summons so had no idea what the stag meant "Then you have passed my test, I sense that you will be a kind summoner, very well Sakura Nara, the others and I are at your command" and then Koatsu was gone in a plume of smoke.

The first one to Sakura were her teammates "Way to go Sakura-chan that was awesome" Naruto cheered hugging Sakura carefully he had to reign himself in quite a lot where she was concerned because she couldn't handle large doses of his exuberance.

"Exactly and now you can count on them should you need help as well, but Naruto, Kakashi and I will be there first" Sasuke nodded a lot less affection than Naruto so simply squeezed Sakura's hand lightly and let her go.

All this wasn't missed by Shikamaru who grumbled under his breath "Troublesome…..anyway congratulations Sakura" the Nara heir sighed speaking up for the latter part of his statement before turning into the house to nap until it was time for dinner.

Yoshino ahead of him to make supper and Shikaku did the same as his son "Honestly" the rosette shook her head at the males of her family, keeping the summons scroll clutched to her chest as she plopped down on the couch giddy over the fact she had a summons.

Not just any summons but the clan summons "Slow down there Sakura-chan, try not to be to excited alright" the blonde of Team Seven grinned not blaming her in the least, Sakura didn't have very many things that could make her that happy.

Off to the side Sasuke rolled his eyes "She has a right to be happy, besides who else can claim they have a cool summons like Koatsu, he was massive and I wouldn't want to get on his bad side, he could run me through with those antlers of his" the Uchiha shuddered.

And Sakura giggled, bringing a smile to Yoshino's face as she listened to their chatter from the kitchen until supper was finished, that night the dinner table was lively and Sakura enjoyed herself to the very end when Naruto and Sasuke claimed they were going home.

But that they promised to meet her here so they could all walk to the tower to meet their client and then set out into the great wide world beyond the gates of their village, by the time Sakura crawled into her bed she was extra tired and slept the whole night through.

Before she knew it, it was morning as her alarm clock so helpfully chimed as it blared annoyingly in her ears, 7o'clock to be precise, so Sakura dragged herself out of bed and dressed properly for the morning after taking a shower of course.

Followed by picking out her outfit for the day, mesh under clothes that were red with a dark green trim, and mesh leggings that went to her knee's, the shirt she chose was an off the shoulder halter top style in black that showed off her stomach which was covered by the mesh.

Though of course anything she wore also bore her clan symbol quite proudly on the back, since her clothes were black the crest color was inverted to white this time and to top her outfit off black shorts that went to mid thigh was put on last.

Once she'd checked herself in the mirror Sakura nodded in satisfaction, wrapped some bandages around her right leg and tied a thigh holster there, her left leg was where she tied her headband while her hair was tied up in a topknot.

Just in case she threw her wig in her pack as an after thought and finished situating her pouches to her body before accepting that there wasn't anything more that she could do to prepare for the mission as she grabbed her pack and headed to the kitchen.

Where breakfast was already done, Yoshino the only one at the table "Shikaku had work and Shikamaru had his own mission, both wanted me to wish you luck on your mission for them and I'm saying it as well, good luck and please be safe" Yoshino said.

Explaining the absence of the males who'd already eaten "I will Ob…Mother and I swear I'll come back no matter what" Sakura began only to say the one thing that Yoshino had longed to hear from her niece.

Tears sprung into the woman's eyes and she sniffled a little "Honestly you kept me waiting forever Sakura-chan…now hurry up and eat your breakfast, don't want to be late do you" the Nara Matriarch scolded with a watery smile.

Sakura smiled sheepishly "Can't help it and right" the pinkette nodded, ate at a moderate pace, not to fast or slow, took her medicine, glad that it took effect right away and dashed from the house after putting on black ankle length sandals.

Waiting outside her house as they promised were Naruto and Sasuke, who took the spots on either side of her as they walked through the Nara Compound to the Hokage Tower "Good Morning my adorable little ducklings, how are you on this fine morning" Kakashi appeared soon after.

No longer playing the late game "Great Kakashi-sensei and listen to this, Sakura-chan got to sign on with her clan summons isn't that awesome" Naruto chattered almost immediately unable to keep that to himself.

Until he realized that it wasn't his right to tell anyone anything Sakura could do it was her right and he shot her an apologetic smile "Ease up Naruto, I don't mind and yeah it's true, deer summons Kakashi-sensei" Sakura nodded at the questioning look.

Kakashi chuckled under his breath "Not a bad idea to have them on hand, alright lets go meet our client shall we" the silver haired Jonin mused before leading his students into the tower to the room they'd meet their client in.

Partway up the stairs Sasuke remembered what his sensei had called them "By the way we aren't ducklings Kakashi" Sasuke scoffed, even if it was supposed to be a term of endearment for the man, it was mortifying to be called that.

Naruto scowled in remembrance as well "If you think about it though Sasuke, we kind of are ducklings to him, since we follow him around, which means he's the mama duck" the pink haired Nara teased in rare form that morning.

Instantly lightening the atmosphere as Kakashi huffed in amused exasperation "Hahahahaha that was hilarious Sakura-chan" the blonde burst out in loud guffaws, thoroughly entertained as Kakashi said nothing in response to being called a mama duck.

All amusement faded though as they entered the office they'd be meeting their client in "I think having students have been quite conducive for you Kakashi-kun" Hiruzen noted, having seen a huge change in the man after becoming a sensei.

His eye crinkled in response "So where's our client" the Uchiha on Team Seven frowned, glancing around and not seeing anyone other than them in there, Hiruzen sighed and cleared his throat gesturing to a side door.

"May I present Tazuna-san, the bridge builder you'll be escorting back home and guarding as he finishes his bridge" the Hokage presented and as if the man had been waiting for it, the door opened to reveal an elderly man and to Sakura's disgust he was drunk.

Tazuna took a liberal swallow from his bottle and hiccuped "Whose the brats, all of them look useless, especially the short one with the stupid grin on his face" Tazuna insulted right off the bat and it took Naruto a minute to realize he was the shortest among his teammates.

The blondes face contorted with anger but was prevented from doing anything as Sakura grabbed his hand and Sasuke pressed a hand to his shoulder holding him in place "It's not wise Tazuna-san to insult us, especially since we're escorting you" Sakura informed politely.

One of the two that had a good head on her shoulders "And if Kakashi thought we were so useless he wouldn't have asked for this mission" Sasuke scoffed, not liking the client in the least because he'd insulted not just them but Naruto big time.

Naruto, who had a lot of issues with adults who belittled him and called him filthy names when they thought no one was listening "Yeah so there" Naruto scowled, temper massively shortened but he didn't move an inch.

As for their sensei, he was massively proud of them for handling that with maturity "Brats" Kakashi murmured fondly under his breath "Right I'm Kakashi Hatake, these three are Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Nara, my students" the Copy Ninja introduced.

Each of his students straightening when he said their name, Tazuna scratched his chin in confusion "Ahem now that you all now each other I suggest you get going and please be safe, all of you" Hiruzen cleared his throat.

Dismissing them from his office and off they went, soon they were signed out of the village and on their way to the Land of Waves "So Kakashi, how long you been teaching these impudent brats" the bridge builder asked.

Completely ignoring the genin and insulting them once again, Naruto grit his teeth "A month old man" the blonde grumbled answering before his sensei could while struggling to keep himself from doing something stupid like punching the elder.

Sakura glowered furiously "Tazuna-san, these impudent brats as you call us do have names, please use them, it's not right to treat us like this especially when your the one who wanted to be escorted" the pinkette stated.

More than a little irritated "Careful Sakura, don't go getting to worked up alright" her raven haired teammate warned, seeing the irritation within the depths of her viridian eyes, her body which had been tensed, lost it's rigidity and he breathed a silent sigh of relief.

Kakashi also let out a sigh of relief and they continued walking for as long as they could until he noticed Sakura struggling "Let's take a quick break in the shade over there by the stream" Kakashi pointed and quickly led his students and client over to the spot he'd picked out.

"If this is your idea of a joke Kakashi I'm not amused, don't treat me like some kind of elder who can't keep up" Tazuna scowled, still extremely drunk as the alcohol hadn't left his system yet, but Kakashi didn't answer him.

Merely kept his eye on Sakura "Sorry Kakashi-sensei, the sun hates me sometimes I swear" Sakura murmured apologetically as she got her asthma under control, though it wasn't as bad as it usually was thanks to the new prescription.

Tazuna frowned at her unhappy that she was the one who they were taking a break for "Hey old man stop glaring at her, it's not Sakura-chan's fault that she has an illness and can't do extremely strenuous exercise without collapsing" Naruto yelled.

Defending his teammate, he would have taken a swing at the elderly man to if Sasuke hadn't put a restraining hand on his shoulder "Even with her condition, she's still quite capable, so I wouldn't go underestimating her" Sasuke grunted.

Causing Naruto to deflate while Tazuna's frown deepened "You have an illness, what the devil are you doing as a shinobi then" the gray haired elder scoffed, this only furthered his thought that the kids were useless.

What he didn't expect was for Sakura to be greatly offended "Because Tazuna-san I can still fight and be useful to my village" the rosette shot back in a scathing tone, tired of the constant insults and Kakashi sighed.

Having known that eventually the kids would get fed up with their clients nonexistent brain to mouth filter "Let's get a move on, if need be I'll carry her" the Uchiha scowled, not liking their client in the least.

And there was this niggling feeling telling him that the man was lying about something "Or Sakura-chan could summon one of her summons and have them carry her, that's what she signed the contract for, and we'll still be available to protect her should she need it" the blonde interjected.

Seeing the objection Sakura was about to make about being carried should she need to be "Right, let's go" the silver haired Jonin sighed again, making absolutely sure Sakura was okay before leading the way down the path again, Tazuna suspiciously silent now.

It was just a little after lunch, the second pit stop they'd had to make when Kakashi felt the masked chakra ahead of them and he surreptitiously glanced over his shoulder to gauge his students expressions, to see if they'd also sensed the chakra.

Just one of the many things he'd been working on teaching them, sensing chakra, masked or not was another essential skill, and judging by Sakura and Sasuke's rigidness they could also feel the chakra so he met their gaze evenly and shook his head.

A signal that meant don't do anything and they nodded back, prodding Naruto who hadn't noticed "Spread your senses knucklehead, there's probably an ambush laying in wait for us" Sakura whispered in his ear.

To quiet for Tazuna to hear as he eavesdropped "What's that girly, I couldn't quite hear you" Tazuna demanded to know when she said nothing more and the boy on her left focused ahead of him for a couple minutes before frowning.

Looking to the other boy on the team who shook his head "Nothing for you to worry about old man" Naruto waved him off, settling his expression to one that was as neutral as he could get it, not wanting to give away the fact that he knew there was someone ahead of them laying in wait.

"Do..Naruto's right" Sasuke shrugged, keeping as relaxed as possible as they rearranged themselves a bit, he in the front, the first that would react, Naruto next and Sakura stayed closest to Tazuna since she was the one who could manipulate shadows.

Kakashi nodded shortly "Alright we'll probably be at the border here soon, we've made great progress, lets try to keep it up" Kakashi instructed not letting on either that he knew rogues were waiting for them as they simply kept on walking.

Until they passed a puddle in the middle of the road, it was highly suspicious and the source of the masked chakra, but they kept on walking by it, paying no heed, why would they, this was supposed to be a C Ranked Mission.

But that wasn't to be as two ninja rose from the puddle and Kakashi was wrapped in chains "Huh" the Copy Ninja exclaimed in mock surprise before seemingly being torn to shreds, Sakura who was nearest let out a fake scream of horror.

"No Kakashi-sensei" the blonde shouted, and neither of his teammates were sure if he was acting or if his fear was real, the scene of their sensei being torn apart looked real as well but two of the genin noted that it was a log that had gotten ripped to pieces.

As the two nuke-nin charged one at Naruto and Sasuke made a split second decision to help the blonde out first "Duck Naruto, make shadow clones but don't just stand there" the raven ordered and Naruto snapped to and made clones to help with the fight.

The second nuke-nin headed straight for Tazuna "Oh no you don't" the pink haired Nara declared as she threw herself bodily in front of their client and flashed through the hand signs necessary "Ninja Art: Shadow Possession Jutsu" she called.

Extending her shadow to stop the rogue in his tracks, shocked onyx met angry viridian in the nick of time as Kakashi returned and took the nuke-nin out "Good job you three that was excellent team coordination" Kakashi praised.

Once the enemy ninja were tied to a tree and Sakura's shadow had retreated "How did you know, we never gave any indication that we were there laying in wait" one of them spoke, and Kakashi gestured to his students.

The lone girl gave a saccharine sweet smile "All of us felt your chakra a ways back and the puddle was highly suspicious especially since it hasn't rained for a while" Sakura intoned smugly as she stood between her teammates.

"If you knew why the blazes didn't you tell me as well so I didn't have to have a bloody heart attack" Tazuna scowled, though his opinion of the genin did change a bit as they'd proved themselves competent, even Sakura.

Who'd practically thrown herself in front of him without fear "Because then we wouldn't have found out who they was after" Sasuke snorted, understanding Kakashi's reasoning for doing such a thing before glancing at Naruto.

His hand was injured and bleeding "Yeah, though not to rain on your parade or anything but what should I do about this" Naruto showed off his hand to their sensei who looked guilty that he got injured as he waited to find out who the rogues were after.

Kakashi frowned "Try not to move around to much Naruto-kun, there's poison in their claws, try to help him Sakura, I know you brought pills and know a little first aide" the Copy Ninja instructed.

Leading Tazuna away despite his complaints, Naruto sighed and Sakura marched over to him "Don't worry Naruto" the rosette smiled calmly trying not to spook the boy anymore than he had been as she checked the injury over.

"Perhaps he should just take a kunai and get the poison out that way" their raven haired teammate suggested as Sakura made Naruto try several of the antidote pills she'd bought and none of them worked to her frustration.

Naruto gulped "Crazy, but crazy enough I guess, it's going to hurt like hell though" the blonde grimaced, closed his eyes and stabbed his hand with a kunai after steeling his nerves, it did the trick though and Sakura quickly wrapped the wound.

Just as the missing adults returned "I'm sorry for endangering you all with my lies" the bridge builder bowed, apologizing to the genin who'd been put in danger because of him, this mission was out of their league as their sensei had so helpfully informed.

The genin said nothing "Apologizing won't help our situation, we're hours away from the village and if we were to turn back whose to say more foreign enemy ninja like these two won't be sent after us because of you" Sakura snipped out after a few minutes.

Like Kakashi thought she would, Sakura looked at more variables than just the obvious ones being a Nara as she was, her IQ was off the charts, Tazuna paled and he realized now that all the insults he'd shot at them was now coming back to bite him in the rear end.

"So what are we going to do Kakashi, this mission is likely B or A ranked now right, so it's your decision" Sasuke grunted looking to the Jonin for direction, casting wary glares around not that he'd be able to sense out all enemy ninja.

But it was a start "Hmm that's certainly a question Sasuke-kun, against my better judgement I think we should continue this mission but you Tazuna need to tell us everything and why the Demon Ninja Brothers would be after you in the first place" Kakashi glanced to Tazuna.

Who was still pale after being snapped at by Sakura "Gato, he invaded our village and took over, we barely have the money to fund our village and building bridge is the only hope we have to get rid of him" Tazuna sighed.

And Kakashi groaned realizing who they were dealing with "Who's this Gato person Kakashi-sensei, doesn't sound like you like him very much" Naruto caught the disgruntled look on his sensei's face as they all started walking again.

"Gato of Gato corps, he's a business tycoon, a shipping magnate, I heard that he was also into dealing drugs and illegal smuggling, this man is dangerous, who knows who else he's hired" the silver haired Jonin sighed.

Answering his students question, Sakura pursed her lips in displeasure "Troublesome I guess this is what we get for wanting a C ranked mission" the pink haired Nara grimaced not the least bit happy about their situation.

Both of her teammates pat her shoulders "It's not our fault Sakura-chan so don't blame yourself" the blonde reminded carefully seeing the exhaustion plain as day on her face, she'd over-extended herself for the day.

Sasuke took note of that "Hang on Kakashi, Sakura's going to summon one of her summons real quick" the Uchiha called as they slowed way down, Kakashi cast his kunoichi a concerned stare but she was focused on creating the necessary hand signs.

Until in a plume of smoke there was another stag before her "The names Doru and I'm pleased to be summoned, how can I help Sakura-san" Doru bowed his head, showing off his antlers proudly as he wondered what he could do to be of assistance to his summoner.

She smiled apologetically and climbed onto his back "Very well I shall carry you" Doru nodded accepting the request, he was still helping his summoner after all and with that they carried on walking until it was practically dinner time.

Where he disappeared in a plume of smoke and camp was set up, dinner was a quiet affair with no one talking as was usual and soon after the five of them were settling down in sleeping bags to get some sleep to be ready for whatever tomorrow would bring them.


	5. Chapter 4

Nothing could have prepared them for what lay in wait as they crossed the ocean to reach Tazuna's village and started walking to his house, absolutely nothing, especially when a giant sword came flying at them.

"Everyone get down now" Kakashi ordered, lucky for him that his students weren't the kind to disobey orders as they instantly dived for the ground and he dragged Tazuna down himself until the sword that had been thrown was embedded in a tree.

He breathed a sigh of relief that no one was hurt before climbing to his feet as their new enemy appeared "What the hell kind of sword is that" Naruto grumbled not in the least bit happy that they were being attacked right off the bat.

As he dusted his dark orange jumpsuit off, the others were slow in getting to their feet and he held out a hand to Sakura who shot him a thankful smile "Dunno but I don't like it" Sakura scowled, feeling a little overwhelmed by the KI in the air.

The man stood on the sword simply watching them for now "Thanks for helping me up to Naruto" Tazuna huffed trying to hide his fear, not that it was doing any good as Naruto shot him a glare reminding him that this was his fault again.

"I think we should focus on our enemy not ourselves" Sasuke straightened and they got in position without ever having to be ordered, Kakashi glanced back at them and crinkled his eye in reassurance before looking to the man.

A man he recognized "Obedient little brats aren't they Hatake" the rogue chuckled, making them aware he knew who their sensei was, the genin wondered often about Kakashi, but didn't ask because things would be revealed in time.

Kakashi narrowed his onyx eye "Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Hidden Mist Village huh" the silver haired Jonin said, choosing not to comment on his students, they were good kids and he wouldn't involve them if he could help it this time around.

Zabuza smirked through his bandages at him "Kakashi Hatake, known by many names, the Friend Killer, the Copy Ninja and Kakashi of the Sharingan Eye did I get that right" Zabuza chortled, watching the faces of the genin.

Only the bridge builder he was after paled until he saw rage in one of the genin after a moment "Sasuke, calm down" the pink haired brat hissed, looking like she was about to pass out and he cast a subtle glance over his shoulder.

Into the forest where his two apprentices waited, should this not go the way he wanted, imperceptible to him, one of them nodded understanding what else he wanted before he focused his gaze forward again.

"Wouldn't mind handing over the old man would you, it's either me or Gato and trust me you won't like it if Gato gets a hold of you old man, he'll make you suffer, I'll end it quick" the raven haired rogue offered.

Tazuna paled further and this time the girl turned to him and squeezed his hand painfully "No can do Zabuza, I'm obligated to protect Tazuna, so your fight is with me" Kakashi drew his gaze once more and he found the man had revealed his sharingan.

Glaring red met his dark brown as mist closed in on them "Naruto, Sakura stay close, prepare to use any means necessary to keep him away from Tazuna" the Uchiha said in a harsh tone, trying not to let his feelings interfere with the task at hand.

Just as Zabuza disappeared "Roger that Sasuke and don't worry Kakashi-sensei we'll be fine" the blonde on the Team shivered, feeling goosebumps rise on his flesh but he steeled himself for the coming attack.

Ahead of them unknown to them Kakashi grit his teeth "Don't worry, I swear I won't allow my comrades to die" the Copy Ninja promised, crinkling his eye at them once more before vanishing into the mist as Zabuza had.

The killing intent was almost unbearable at that point but it was Sakura who felt the shift as she whirled shoving Tazuna out of the way and dragging her teammates down to avoid the gigantic sword that had just been swung at them.

When the mist cleared to show Kakashi behind Zabuza with a kunai to his neck, dark brown orbs were full of shock "Stupid girl the hell did you shove me for" the gray haired elder grunted after a moment missing the fact that he'd nearly been beheaded.

Sakura's viridian orbs full of dislike flashed his way and he flinched back, she said nothing merely stared forward again "It's over Zabuza" Kakashi informed harshly, proud of his student for getting Tazuna out of the way before he was hacked clean through.

"Is it Kakashi, hahahahaha" Zabuza laughed darkly as Kakashi swiped his throat and he dissolved in a puddle of water, surprise showed in Kakashi's dual colored irises and the fear he saw on his students faces was enough to let him know that the real Zabuza was behind him.

Just as the executioners blade swung through him and he to collapsed in a puddle of water being a water clone, what he didn't expect though was to be knocked clear into the river and captured in the water prison jutsu.

Leaving his students alone with a monster and their faces showed despair "Go, run, get out of here, water clones can only go a short distant from the original" the silver haired Jonin yelled through his prison, trying to get them far away.

Maybe if they did that he would have a chance to take down Zabuza who would have to let him out of the water prison jutsu at some point to deal with him "You think you can save them do you Kakashi" the dark haired nuke-nin rumbled darkly.

And where his gaze landed infuriated him beyond belief, Sakura must have sensed their gaze as she glanced briefly in their direction until her attention was taken by her teammates, neither of whom were about to leave their sensei.

Her brow furrowed before nodding slowly and as much as he tried to dissuade them from the idea they began anyway with Sakura turning sharply to the clone "We'll get our sensei back" Sakura declared as Naruto rushed the Zabuza water clone.

Or rather fifteen of his shadow clones did until they all disappeared in a plume of smoke after being knocked away, with the smoke from the clones it disrupted their vision and Sakura flashed through the necessary hand signs for her shadow possession jutsu.

"I'll come back and help you as soon as I can Sakura, just keep him in place alright" Naruto assured as he transformed into a giant shuriken and had his remaining clone throw him to Sasuke who was on standby as the smoke finally cleared.

Zabuza only saw what he wanted as Sasuke jumped high and through the transformed Naruto at their enemy and once his feet were on the ground again, he ran "Gotcha" Sasuke smirked as he slammed a kunai into the water clone.

That Sakura had been holding captive and he caught her just before she collapsed to the ground "Kami you reckless insane brats" Tazuna groaned as they watched their plan unfold, the first shuriken was caught, the second jumped over.

But not even Zabuza expected the shadow of the giant shuriken to transform into Naruto who threw a kunai, forcing him to release the water prison jutsu, Kakashi was never prouder of his students in that moment for working as a team as they had, as he'd taught them.

As he stopped Zabuza from killing his student "Good job Naruto, that was nicely executed, all three of you did well but from here on leave the rest to me" Kakashi said calmly, directing a furious glare at Zabuza.

Naruto quickly got out of way until he was stood with his teammates again "Seems like Kakashi cares about his students quite a bit eh" Zabuza grunted struggling against his opponent now, most of his chakra had been used up for the water prison jutsu.

His comment only got him another of those furious glares as the fight really got started until he found himself on the losing side, throwing needles got him in the nick of time as Kakashi was about to truly kill him.

Those in the clearing were stunned as someone appeared out of nowhere "Guess you were right, today was his day to die, I've been tracking him for weeks and I think you for wearing him down as you did" the boy wearing a Hunter Nin mask bowed.

It was at this point that Kakashi was on the verge of collapsing himself so didn't miss the obvious until it was to late and Zabuza's body was being taken away, he fell flat on his face and passed out after that "Great" the bridge builder groaned.

Seeing that two members were now out and he had no idea how he was going to get either of them back to his house "Old man just carry Kakashi-sensei, we've got Sakura-chan" the blonde instructed and since he had little choice, Tazuna heaved one of Kakashi's arms around his shoulders.

And began practically dragging the poor man in the direction of his house "Come on lets get her somewhere comfortable" the Uchiha sighed, being a lot more gentle with Sakura than Tazuna was being with Kakashi as she was situated on his back.

Unaware that there was someone still watching before he left to find his companions "Why didn't you take the girl, wasn't that part of Zabuza-sama's plan in case this one failed" Haku frowned at his dual apprentice.

Kimimaro ripped the hunter nin mask from his face and frowned right back "They were still on high alert, not to mention one of them was carrying her on his back and we have no clue as to what her abilities are since she's the only one who didn't do anything" Kimimaro informed.

Just as Zabuza woke "She felt me coming and got the bridge builder out of the way, her teammates to and she did something to my water clone" Zabuza spat, pulling his bandages down to spit blood on the ground.

Before yanking the throwing needles from his neck "Really" the sole Kaguya survivor mused, obviously not having seen from his position, Zabuza growled under his breath and Haku took enjoyment out of their master's predicament.

"Must you be so brutal on yourself, in any case you won't be moving for at least a week so we should get him to the base Kimimaro" the raven haired fifteen year old chided before standing and dusting his clothes off.

Kimimaro shrugged, helping even if he didn't have to since Haku was more than capable, his thoughts on the pink haired girl that was part of the team who'd come to protect Tazuna from them "Get your head out of the clouds Kaguya" the rogue barked.

Sensing the white haired fifteen year old's distraction and Kimimaro snapped to as they hurried to their base and Zabuza was made comfortable in bed, Haku puttering about to prepare things, likewise Team Seven or the awake members had reached Tazuna's house at long last.

Tsunami was horrified "What happened to them Father, wait tell me after, first lets just make them comfortable" Tsunami shook her head, wanting to know but the two unconscious people were her first priority as she led the way up the stairs.

And showed her unexpected guests to a few guest rooms "Shinobi, I hired them, they protected me" Tazuna explained as Kakashi was laid down on a futon and covered, he would probably be out for a few days.

His daughter covered her mouth, but they turned to find where the younger shinobi had wandered off to, the room next door and Sakura was awake "I'm fine you guys stop fussing" the rosette huffed as Naruto adjusted the blanket for the fifth time.

"But Sakura-chan you fainted and we just want you to be comfortable" the blonde sulked not happy that Sakura wouldn't let them take care of her, Sasuke stood back away from his teammates looking more than a little relieved.

Sakura huffed again "Naruto's right Sakura, it's our duty as a teammate to make sure your comfortable, but we shouldn't crowd her either Naruto" the Uchiha finally intervened and got a thankful smile as she lay back looking exhausted.

While Naruto pouted before finally relenting "Are you feeling alright Sakura" the gray haired elder asked, having worried and wondered as to why she'd fainted in the first place, did it have to do with her condition, a more than likely answer.

At his voice she looked up and Tsunami was practically besotted with the young girl already "And don't be afraid to let me know if you need anything Sakura-chan, I'm Tsunami, his daughter" the blue haired woman interrupted.

Just as Sakura went to answer "Right thanks Tsunami-san and from the chakra Tazuna-san, there was to much of it and it put a strain on my body which caused me to collapse and then faint as it abruptly left, by the way what happened to Zabuza" Sakura admitted.

Then glanced to her teammates who shared a look "Hunter Nin got him, the guy was fairly young, I'd say only a couple years older than us" Sasuke finally said and Sakura frowned in response, he wondered if she was dissatisfied with his answer.

Until their remaining teammate piped in "Yeah, got him in the neck with throwing needles, it was pretty horrifying and I'm glad you didn't have to see that Sakura-chan" Naruto added before reeling back as Sakura went pale.

Her face said it all without her having to verbally say it "What, is something wrong Sakura" Tazuna jumped in seeing that she was not in the least bit happy at the answer, Sakura heaved a long suffering sigh.

"Zabuza's still alive…there's a nerve in the neck when hit stops the heart temporarily, chances are that Hunter Nin was his accomplice and that was a plan to get him safe, he'll be out for a week probably if I'm right, where's Kakashi-sensei" the pink haired Nara explained.

And Tsunami gasped while the boys grimaced "He's unconscious Sakura-chan, in the room next door" Tsunami offered apologetically and got another sigh, with that she decided to bow out and leave the genin to themselves, Father on her heels.

Naruto and Sasuke sat down "Your positive Sakura, that Momochi is still alive" the raven of Team Seven questioned, absolutely livid that they'd been tricked, so much for seeing beneath the underneath.

Sakura looked like she wanted to deny it but something in the back of her mind told her she was right so she simply nodded quietly "Wonderful and Kakashi-sensei's probably going to be out for a couple days" the blonde groaned.

Flopping onto his back as he did so, beyond tired and it wasn't even noon yet "Come on you two, let's try to get some rest, we've got about two hours before lunch" Sakura yawned, setting an alarm as she did so.

Cajoling her teammates into taking a nap "Probably for the best" Sasuke grunted, getting comfortable on his side, nearest the door, so that he was technically the first line of defense should anyone not their hosts try to enter the room.

The blonde on their team rolled until he was on the other side of Sakura facing the window "Rest well then" Naruto murmured closing his eyes and soon the three of them were knocked out snoozing the rest of the morning away.

And that's how Tazuna found them "Honestly falling asleep" the bridge builder shook his head, so much for protecting him he thought with a snort but the guilty part of him that told him it was his fault wouldn't let him wake the kids up, so he simply left them to their rest.

Until it was time for lunch "Awake are you and should you be out of bed Sakura-chan" the blue haired woman smiled only to frown as she saw the only girl entering the kitchen with her teammates as well.

"I'm fine Tsunami-san, I wasn't injured or anything, I merely got overwhelmed, Kakashi-sensei's the one who got hurt the most" the pinkette informed gently, as she took a seat at the table, sandwiched between her two teammates.

Who had practically carried her downstairs despite her telling them they didn't need to, "The Sharingan he has probably did the worst damage to his nervous system, since he's not an Uchiha his body can't handle the strain" the Uchiha gave the most probable answer.

It was Naruto who perked up with a suggestion "Hey Sakura-chan why don't you send a message to your Aunt and Uncle, let them know what's going on and see if you can get them to send you some medicine to help Kakashi-sensei" the blonde blurted in realization.

Sakura blinked before smiling brightly in response "Good idea Naruto, after lunch though" Sakura said, positively ravenous, even though she hadn't done much, all the walking they'd done was counted as exercise.

Naruto deflated "You know she's right Naruto" Sasuke pat Naruto on the shoulder reassuringly, this mission wasn't turning out the way they thought it would and it's best to find out what the Hokage thought they should do.

He sighed "Don't worry Naruto, I'm sure everything will turn out fine" Tazuna grimaced, not to sure himself with the way things had been going, attacked twice, Kakashi was unconscious and he wasn't as sure about their competence should someone else be sent after him.

"Father honestly I don't think your helping" Tsunami scolded, finishing making up the plates, her son still absent so she kept his plate on the counter before passing out lunch to the hungry kids and they were hungry as they dug in without prompt.

Minding their manners though but she caught Sakura taking some medicine of some sort and she wondered before she could ask though the genin were done and heading outside to do what had been suggested earlier.

Since she was the only one with summons Sakura sped through the hand signs necessary and met Koatsu for the second time "Sakura-san to what do I owe the honor of being summoned for" Koatsu inquired politely.

Giving his summoner a small bow "Koatsu-san I need you to deliver a message for me, we're in a bad situation, our client lied about the mission rank and we're dealing with a rogue from the Hidden Mist Village, and our sensei is unconscious" the rosette said in a rush.

Thankfully Koatsu understood and took the held out scroll "We're counting on you Koatsu-san" the ebony haired preteen admitted, just before he disappeared in a plume of smoke, upon his deliverance of the scroll to the Nara Patriarch, pandemonium ensued.

"What do you think is going to happen" the blonde asked when five minutes passed, no sign of Koatsu returning as they stood around, gazes cautious as they eyed their surroundings, for they never knew who else Zabuza had in his employ.

Neither of his teammates had an answer, but they were massively relieved when Koatsu returned after fifteen minutes with a return message "Backup is being sent, don't do anything reckless ~Yoshino Nara~" Sakura read off.

Paling as she did so, her aunt was furious, she could just tell, Koatsu didn't even need to say anything "Your family was most distraught and asked that I inquire about your health" Koatsu said, before he was distracted for but a moment.

All three genin before him sensed that distraction and stared into the forest, senses spread but unable to sense anything "Tell them I'm fine Koatsu-san please, I hate worrying them so much" the pink haired Nara pleaded softly.

Koatsu bowed his head in acquiesce vanishing once again and leaving them alone "Stay in between us Sakura, Koatsu-san sensed something or someone and I'm not taking any chances got it" Sasuke demanded.

Gripping Sakura's hand in one of his own to keep her at his side "Yeah me either, your the most vulnerable of us despite being scarily smart" Naruto piped in, doing the same with her remaining hand to keep her close.

"Besides once he comes back we're going in and setting up traps to ensure the old man and his daughter's protection" the blonde proclaimed, staring at the space Koatsu was likely to reappear in and he was right.

With another message that Sakura sighed at before dismissing her summons "Come on, then we can sit around and think strategy alright" the Uchiha tugged her towards the door, glaring over his shoulder into the forest as he did so until all three of them were back inside Tazuna's house.

To the unknown's frustration "Damn, failed again" Kimimaro scowled to himself, Zabuza wasn't going to be pleased with him, nor was he going to be happy to hear about the fact that backup was being sent to help the Leaf Shinobi.

"I see you didn't bring the girl again Kimimaro, Zabuza-sama is not going to be amused" Haku grimaced seeing that his partner had come back empty handed once again, Kimimaro pressed his lips together.

Crossing his arms over his chest as well "Yes well I'd like to see you get in between those two without alerting, they keep her close at all times and now they've got backup on the way" the white haired teen shot back scathingly.

Haku froze at the admission "How is that possible, the Jonin's still out and he's the only one who would possibly have a summons" the raven haired fifteen year old paced suddenly, knowing that Zabuza was going to massively upset by this.

The Kaguya Survivor curled his lips "The girl, Sakura I heard them call her, she has summons" Kimimaro informed, inwardly thinking the name Sakura suited the girl quite well, she was pretty, if only….he shook his head ridding it of that thought.

Before focusing once more on reality "In any case, most girls like their own space, she's bound to be on her own at some point just wait for that opportunity, I'll tell Zabuza-sama the rest" Haku sighed, heading into Zabuza's room.

An enraged shout echoed through the base moments after "THAT LITTLE BRAT CALLED FOR BACKUP" Zabuza snarled, wishing he wasn't stuck in bed, otherwise he would go after the girl himself, this was to much trouble and becoming not worth it in the long run anymore.

~Meanwhile~

Once they'd returned inside the genin split up and set up protections around the house at permission of their hosts and Tazuna's opinion of them went up a little more, for he'd thought they would simply forget their duty.

Then once all manner of protection had been put in place Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke crowded in Sakura's guest room to talk strategy, coming up with a myriad of plans that would or wouldn't work depending on certain things.

Until it was dinnertime and that's when they met Inari "Snot-nosed little brat, if I or Shikamaru talked to Aunt Yoshino like that, she would beat us over the head with a frying pan or just Shikamaru anyway" Sakura scoffed.

"Ouch, that's kind of harsh Sakura-chan" Naruto sniggered, enjoying the visual she'd given him, while setting up traps in the lone window of the guest room Sakura was using, wanting to ensure her protection as well since she'd told him that he would be sleeping in his own guest room.

Next to him Sasuke nodded "Though he'd probably deserve it and your right, that Inari kid was a brat to everyone, regardless of his reasons" Sasuke snorted, making sure the room was aptly secure before the three of them bid each other goodnight and settled down to get some shuteye.


	6. Chapter 5

It was two days later, Kakashi still unfortunately unconscious, that the so called backup that had been sent arrived in the form of two familiar shinobi, for Sakura anyway as she stared at them in shock and recognition "Hayate-sensei, Genma-sensei" Sakura asked in surprise.

They were as equally surprised "Well I certainly didn't expect you or that you were Kakashi's kunoichi" Genma frowned, eyeing the other genin of Team Seven both of whom were wary of him and his partner.

"Speaking of Kakashi, where is he" Hayate coughed and Sakura's gaze focused on him, before she lowered her eyes to the ground and pointed to the house, all three of the genin looked extremely upset.

Which meant "Kakashi-sensei's still unconscious and how the heck do you know these guys Sakura-chan" Naruto admitted, giving them the answer they thought they'd be given before rounding on his lone female teammate.

As the two adults headed into the house to check on Kakashi's condition "Yes, I'd like to know as well, because we had no idea that you knew anyone else beyond Kakashi or Asuma" Sasuke grunted, arms crossed over his chest.

Sakura rolled her eyes "Met them in the shop I bought my sword at, now focus Tsunami-san gave us a task remember" the pink haired Nara informed then drummed her knuckles on their heads to remind them of their task.

Naruto and Sasuke sighed "Herbs, right, so what kind of herbs did she want again" the Uchiha snorted looking at the ground, Sakura smiled and picked a couple then held them out to show off so that they could memorize what they were supposed to be looking for.

"Doesn't seem to hard to find" the blonde exclaimed when a couple minutes later he found and picked several until they had as much as needed and quickly headed back into the house, frustrating the unknown once again as he failed his task.

Inside the house the three genin found their backup lounging on couches "Just so you know Genma-sensei, Hayate-sensei, someone, probably one of Zabuza's subordinates have been watching us the past couple of days" Sakura informed matter of factly.

Not willing to ignore the problem at hand, both straightened "Your sure Sakura-san" the onyx eyed brunet coughed, frowning as he did so, he hadn't felt anyone around for miles, which was disturbing to put it.

Both boys nodded as well "Exactly, not that we've felt anything, but the day we sent the message her summons Koatsu could and we've been extra wary since" Sasuke added, then disappeared into the kitchen to give their host what they asked for.

The woman was beyond pleased "Thank you Sasuke, you to Naruto, Sakura-chan" Tsunami called happily itching to hug the genin but refrained as she didn't think they'd appreciate it to much, especially the one before her.

"Hmm worth investigating, our job was simply to get rid of Gato and collect his money and prevent you kids from getting in any sort of trouble" the hazel eyed brunet commented not that the kids had any complaints.

Seemed they understood this mission was well out of their league "On that note we should begin searching for him, I'm sure he has many thugs in his employ" Hayate stood making sure his sword was where it was supposed to be, before heading for the door.

Partner on his heels "Just stay here and out of trouble got it, oh if Kakashi wakes up let him know we're here" Genma paused to say that and then both were simply gone as if they'd never been there to begin with.

To put it mildly it was a little "Creepy, you know" Naruto finished the thought they all had, Sakura and Sasuke nodded in agreement before going around to check their traps to assure themselves that none of them had been tripped.

Before sitting on the floor to think up a few more strategies, until it was noon when their backup returned "Haven't found Gato's hideout yet" the hazel eyed brunet shook his head at their questioning looks.

And the two boys deflated while the lone girl nodded in understanding, Hayate chuckled under his breath "Smells like lunch is ready though" the onyx eyed brunet coughed just as Tsunami appeared to inform them all the afternoon meal was done.

"Looks good, did the kids give you the ingredients" Tazuna asked as he found a variety of delicious looking dishes on the table ready to be eaten by hungry people, he was unfortunately stuck inside until Kakashi woke up and gave his genin definitive orders.

Tsunami nodded quite happily "Yes, they even went out and got the seasoning herbs I needed" the blue haired woman exclaimed, her hopes had been raised and she had reason to be happy for once, if only her son would stop being rude to the poor kids.

Tazuna snorted "Is that all you kids know how to do is perform menial tasks" the bridge builder questioned, Naruto and Sasuke bristled but Sakura was quick as she elbowed their sides, effectively reigning them in.

For the moment anyway "We're genin Tazuna-san, the lowest at the ranking system, until our sensei deems us ready or gives us orders, that's all we can do until we move up in rank" the rosette informed just a tad bit harshly.

Getting real tired of being insulted "Yeah what she said, you know" the blonde on her left nodded, keeping a wary eye on his female teammate who could be vicious when she wanted even with her condition, she was positively scary.

Hayate and Genma shared a look over the genin's heads "Precisely and that was hardly a menial task, a request from our host, I think Kakashi would have approved" the Uchiha grunted, defending Sakura in his own way.

"Father honestly it's bad enough that Inari is rude" Tsunami cut in, good mood instantly gone and Tazuna grimaced, he needed to learn how to keep his mouth shut sometimes, even if he was irritated at being cooped up.

With that they all ate quickly and the genin hurriedly disappeared upstairs "Ouch" Genma winced catching Tsunami's disapproving glare at Tazuna who realized he'd run the kids off again, it was his own fault for insulting them.

"Come on Genma we still have work to do" Hayate sighed leading the way back outside so that they could resume their search for Gato's hideout and get rid of the massive thorn and collect his money for themselves.

During this time the genin had sequestered themselves away in Sakura's guest room "Ugh I'm getting tired of being insulted" Sakura was practically tearing her hair out it was the most irritated she'd been in awhile actually.

Since Naruto and Sasuke had straightened up their acts "Try not to let him get you so worked up okay Sakura, Kakashi's bound to be awake soon and those two are taking care of all our problems" Sasuke soothed.

Being the voice of reason "Yeah and then when all the threats are vanished we can sit back and relax believe it" Naruto declared by punching the air and Sakura was able to calm down, to their relief as she flopped down on the futon.

A moment later Sakura snorted "Doubtful, especially with Kakashi-sensei as our sensei" the rose haired Nara huffed, the two boys shared long suffering looks with one another as they realized Sakura could be right.

With Kakashi as their sensei who knew what they would have to endure "Joy, well in any case at least we won't have to do anything to taxing hopefully, unless Kakashi gets a wild hair up his rear and has us help Tazuna build his bridge" the raven grunted.

Picking at a loose thread on the carpeted flooring in Sakura's guest room "Gah I hate it when you might be right believe it" the blonde of Team Seven groaned, flopping down dramatically to his teammates amusement and effectively lightening the mood.

They stayed there clear up to dinner and when they came down at Tsunami's call, Genma and Hayate returned with grim expressions "Is it done then" Sasuke asked, his own expression becoming grim.

For the duo nodded "Quite, now all that's left is Momochi correct" the onyx eyed brunet questioned and got nods from the genin in response as they gathered around the table to eat dinner, thankfully Tazuna didn't try to insult the kids again.

More than likely because of Tsunami who shot him warning glares anytime he opened his mouth, even Inari was behaving well that evening "Yeah and our guess the person who's been watching us is also in league with Zabuza" Sakura chimed in.

Genma scratched his head "Right I'm still not sure what we should do about Momochi though, technically since Gato's gone, he has no reason to stick around" the tokujo said while Inari gaped at him in surprise.

"What do you mean Gato's gone" Inari snapped, not able to comprehend the meaning just yet but when his Mother shot him a look "You mean he's dead but how he has lots of thugs and stuff" the eight year old yelled in confusion.

It was Naruto who answered "Doesn't mean that he's unbeatable, these guys are on the level of Kakashi-sensei after all, even if he is still passed out cause of his Sharingan" Naruto huffed, and Inari glared at him before excusing himself from the table since he was done eating.

Tsunami shook her head "I do apologize, Gato killed his stepfather right in front of him" the blue haired woman sighed, gathering the dishes from the table to start cleaning up, the boys were kind enough to help her.

And Sakura she stayed at the table "Well what if you offered him money to go away or something" the bridge builder grumbled trying not to insult the genin anymore, in the case he ran them off again.

Both Jonin shared a look "Unless he has a grudge against Kakashi-sensei for nearly beating him" the knuckleheaded blonde commented, nipping that idea in the bud somewhat, Kakashi had this way about him that pissed people off after all.

Speaking of his sensei a loud groan echoed from upstairs and Sakura was off like a shot nearly tripping on her way up the stairs to see her sensei "Kakashi-sensei are you alright, we've been worried" the rosette burst through the door to his guest room.

Just as Kakashi was slowly sitting up "Careful Sakura-chan don't get to excited or worked up alright" Kakashi chuckled, reaching out to ruffle her hair lightly, feeling rather sore, though he did raise a brow at who else entered the room after his female student.

Genma and Hayate "About time you woke up Kakashi, according to these kids you've been out for three days" Genma snorted, sitting in seiza position on the floor so that he could talk with his fellow Jonin.

"Before you ask, we're your backup and Gato's already been taken care of" Hayate interjected, making Kakashi sigh quietly in relief, because he certainly didn't want to put his students in anymore danger than they'd already been in.

A moment later Naruto and Sasuke flew into the room "It was thanks to Sakura-chan these two are here by the way" the Uzumaki of Team Seven admitted when Kakashi settled his gaze on them, looking them over to assure himself that they really were okay.

It took a moment for Kakashi to remember "Deer summons right, so if Gato's been taken that just leaves Zabuza" the silver haired Jonin informed, hating to say it but Zabuza was alive and that he knew for a fact.

Sasuke snorted "Oh we already know that Kakashi, Sakura figured that out on the first day" the Uchiha informed to Sakura's amusement as Kakashi sulked a little, even Genma looked mildly amused at their antics.

Until Kakashi sighed "Zabuza's likely to be holding a grudge against me for nearly killing him, so tomorrow I'm taking you three out for a little training, though Zabuza will be dealt with by us three I want you to be able to adequately protect our client and his family" Kakashi said.

Making his three students straighten "Roger that Kakashi-sensei, anyway I think Tsunami-san is here with dinner for you" Naruto saluted, eyeing the door that slid open and Tsunami appeared with a tray of food in hand for his sensei.

Who was definitely grateful to have something to eat after three days of unconsciousness "These three have been very good to us you know, despite my Father insulting them daily" Tsunami admitted.

Wanting the man to know that he'd taught his students well "And I do apologize for that" Tazuna grunted, standing in the doorway as he was, just relieved that the Jonin in charge of the genin was finally awake and he could go out and work on his bridge hopefully.

Kakashi raised a silver brow in response but ate his food diligently "Guess we ought to leave Kakashi-sensei alone so that he can rest up for the night" Sakura stood, looking as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

Like that Naruto and Sasuke also stood "Don't worry us anymore" Sasuke grumbled, also relieved that his sensei was going to be okay after three long agonizing days, then the three of them left the Jonin to talk amongst themselves.

And before they knew it, it was the next day and immediately after breakfast Kakashi took his students out for training as he'd promised, while Genma and Hayate escorted Tazuna to continue work on his bridge.

"Okay you three, watch and learn" the Copy Ninja ordered after gathering chakra in his feet before walking straight up a tree to his students surprise and then to their further shock he threw kunai at their feet "Use those kunai to mark your progress" Kakashi explained.

Not really explaining the exercise yet, he wanted to see among his students who had the best chakra control "First one to the top doesn't have to do dishes tonight for Tsunami-san" his blonde haired student yelled after concentrating his chakra.

Then with a war cry charged full speed at his chosen tree and promptly slid back down "Ha if that's the case…gahhh" the raven of Team Seven smirked seeing the failed attempt before also failing as the bark of the tree broke underfoot and repelled him.

"Looks like I don't have to do dishes" the pinkette giggled from her perch high in her own chosen tree, to the boys frustration and Kakashi simply nodded it was as he'd expected, Sakura manipulated shadows that took chakra control.

But he was surprised at how quick she managed the exercise he set before them even as she came back down to keep practicing like Naruto and Sasuke "Come on how do you keep doing that" Naruto whined suddenly at Sakura who was now simply walking up the tree instead of running.

The lone girl on his team paused and walked back down her tree "It's simple Naruto, your using to little chakra for the technique try adding a little more and I bet you could go higher" Sakura explained simply.

Naruto blinked then decided to do what she'd said by adding more chakra to his feet than he had been and just like that he was able to go further up the tree than before "What about me, don't I deserve a little help to" Sasuke huffed.

Sakura grinned widely, whispered a different set of instructions to the Uchiha and went back to practicing the exercise for herself until she couldn't go on "Alright its should be about lunch so lets go back to the house you three" their silver haired sensei commanded.

Dropping to the ground easily, even using crutches courtesy of Tsunami, and leading the way back to the house "How'd things go, did the genin understand" the tokujo questioned, eyeing the kids who looked like they'd had a rough morning.

Covered in sweat and dirt as they were, though upon seeing that lunch wasn't quite ready yet disappeared to wash up and change their dirty clothing "Or did they not" the onyx eyed brunet asked knowing that most genin didn't have good chakra control.

However Kakashi smirked "Sakura-chan was the first to understand, immediately after I taught the exercise and she helped Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun, they still have a bit to go but at least they understood" Kakashi announced.

"Lucky, seems like you got the most behaved out of the lot of this years academy graduates" Genma whistled as he took a seat at the table with the others, having heard from Gai, Kurenai and Asuma how much trouble their students caused them.

Kakashi shrugged "Either way at least they'll be able to protect themselves better" Hayate commented, joining the others at the table as the genin returned, in clean clothing and looking much more presentable to Tsunami's relief.

Who couldn't keep from asking any longer as she plated up the food and Sakura grabbed the pills she took every meal time "May I ask what those are Sakura-chan" Tsunami inquired finally, drawing attention to the girl.

Just a tiny bit worried that Sakura wasn't in the best of health "It's her medicine Tsunami, for her condition right, whatever it was" Tazuna answered before Sakura could and she shot him a slightly cross look for speaking up for her.

His answer did it though as Tsunami gasped in horror "Condition" the onyx eyed brunet whispered to Kakashi, who sighed and looked to Sakura who didn't look happy that she was receiving pitying looks.

"Churg-Strauss Syndrome, I have the rare variation of it called Vasculitis, which inflames my blood vessels and does other things but I'm not incapable and I do know my limits" the pink haired Nara sniffed.

Taking her medicine and practically chowing down on lunch before disappearing to her guest room to escape the looks "She's a bit touchy about it because she doesn't want to be seen as an invalid" the raven haired preteen explained.

Helping to clean up after himself though Sakura was exempt for the day considering she'd won Naruto's bet hands down "Yeah, we didn't help things either until we became a team together" the blonde admitted.

Feeling like a jerk, he'd been horrible and cruel "Why did she become a ninja in the first place" the blue haired woman questioned looking to the girls sensei, who had to know more about the girl but Kakashi simply shrugged.

"Probably to prove to people that she could do it, Sakura-chan's that kind of person, not to mention she also wants to find a cure for her condition, to be healthy" the Copycat Ninja said after a couple of minutes.

Remembering the first day he'd met his students and the introductions they'd given each other "You know I don't really hear them talk about their parents much" the Bridge Builder chimed in suddenly, then again he hadn't really heard them talk at all.

Because the kids liked to hide away in Sakura's guest room whenever they weren't needed "That's because all three of them are orphans somewhat, though Sakura was adopted by her Aunt and Uncle" the tokujo explained.

With that the lot of them split up to do their own thing which included Tazuna leaving so he could continue working on his bridge, until one morning, when Naruto and Sasuke had driven Kakashi to distraction with their antics.

And he made them accompany himself, Genma and Hayate to the bridge that the second round against Zabuza began "What the devil" Tazuna shouted in horror, seeing the still bodies of his construction workers, through the thick mist.

Kakashi straightened "It's Zabuza, he just couldn't wait for Round Two" Kakashi scowled, cursing himself for bringing two of his students straight into the conflict, he'd wanted to avoid endangering them at all costs and now they were in the midst of danger.

At his comment a spine chilling laugh echoed from the mist "That ones still trembling what's the matter boy don't have your girlfriend around to keep you from going insane" Zabuza mocked, effectively pissing Sasuke off.

Though he looked to Kakashi first who nodded grudgingly "That's because I'm trembling with excitement and Sakura has nothing to do with this" Sasuke shot back, easily taking out the water clones that had surrounded them.

Until they were nothing but puddles on the bridge "Oh I wouldn't worry about the girl, see I sent one of my subordinates after her before coming here" the rogue announced, Kakashi nearly turned and body flickered.

But Genma put a hand on his shoulder "Leave it to me, Hayate you stay here and help keep these kiddies and the bridge builder safe" Genma instructed, body flickering off and Kakashi glared furiously at Zabuza.

Who appeared at the end of the bridge with the fake hunter nin "Guess Sakura-chan was right, you were a great big phony after all" Naruto scowled and also itching to turn tail, to check on his teammate and avoid the ensuing fight.

~Meanwhile~

Back at Tazuna's house, Sakura had decided to coincidentally check the traps that she and her teammates had set up around the house outside, when a shadow fell over her and she jumped back just in time to avoid getting hit over the back of the neck.

"Damn, you wouldn't mind coming with me quietly would you" the ivory haired teen tsked under his breath peering at her with vibrant green eyes, Sakura's heart thudded in her chest in response as she backed up further and shook her head.

The teenager sighed "Your the one that's been watching us aren't you" Sakura realized, pulling a kunai from her pouch, shooting a glance at the door, hoping that Tsunami wouldn't foolishly come out to see what was taking her so long.

At her accusation the older boy nodded "Very perceptive aren't you, unfortunately that won't help your case right now, your alone without backup and I don't intend on giving you anytime to form hand signs to summon your summons" the white haired teenager said.

Taking a large step forward, taking slight amusement out of the panic that appeared in her jade irises "I..If you think for one minute I'm going down without a fight your dead wrong" the rose haired girl declared.

Holding her kunai out in the proper way, with that the fight was on as she tossed her weapon, concentrated chakra into her feet and jumped backwards up a tree, by the time Kimimaro realized it she had already disappeared into the forest, chakra masked.

Though he could still feel her, she was proving to be a much harder challenge to catch than initially thought "Guess it can't be helped if she wants a chase, a chase she will have" Kimimaro said to no one before taking off like a bullet after his target.

Minutes after his departure Genma returned and headed inside, only to curse as Tsunami told him that Sakura was outside "Why what's going on" Tsunami frowned in confusion until dread hit her, Sakura had been alone.

"Momochi sent someone after her to take her as a hostage" the tokujo groaned, trying to quell his need to panic as he spread out his senses and found Sakura's chakra though it was four and a half minutes away and moving at a high speed through the forest.

Tsunami gasped but he had no time to console her as he to shot off like a bullet into the forest after Sakura and her pursuer, ahead of him Sakura was doing everything that she could to keep the teenager away from her.

Including setting up traps, ninja wire with exploding tags, flash bombs, smokescreen, everything she had in her pouch essentially, if that wasn't bad enough she felt the beginnings of an asthma attack seizing her lungs.

In the end though her efforts were abysmal as the teenager from before finally caught up with her "Out of stamina I see, well are you going to come quietly with me now or do you want another chance to run away" the ivory haired teen commented as if he was talking about the weather.

Sakura barred her teeth furiously at him and tossed down an exploding tag before setting it off, in the midst of that she flashed through the hand signs for the summoning jutsu "I will never give up so long as I live" Sakura snapped.

Leaping onto Koatsu's back as he appeared from the smoke of the jutsu, the stag turned and reared up on his front legs and with a mighty kick her pursuer was sent flying through the air, through a tree even to land on the ground in a heap.

To her horror he stood without so much as a scratch, Koatsu wasn't pleased in the least "Sakura-sama if you would please get in that tree for safety or find your team, I will handle him" Koatsu instructed.

Not happy that his attack had done nothing "J..Just b..be careful al..alright K..Koatsu-san" the pink haired Nara gasped, barely managing to suppress the asthma attack that wanted to seize her lungs as she turned.

And slammed into another person, Sakura let out a scream, already fighting to get away as arms wrapped around her small frame "Calm down, it's alright, it's just me Genma Shiranui and if you think I'm going to let you take her your wrong" Genma soothed.

Knowing that Sakura had just been frightened before glaring at Zabuza's subordinate "Damn, very well then, you've won this round Sakura-san" the boy cursed softly, then promptly vanished into the forest.

Leaving Genma alone with Sakura and her summons who turned to his summoner "Are you alright Sakura-sama" Koatsu inquired carefully seeing her struggling to breathe as their savior kept her close.

"C..Can't breathe, as..asthma a..attack" Sakura gasped, chest rising and falling but not able to get much air into her lungs as they seized painfully, due to her attempts at stalling the attack in order to get away from Zabuza's subordinate.

For the third time Genma cursed "Shit Kid hang on alright, in, out, in, out, try to calm down okay" the tokujo instructed carefully allowing gravity to do it's job and pull him to the ground carefully as he leaned back against a tree, Sakura practically in his lap.

Trying to calm down and breathe properly, it took several minutes, before Sakura's asthma attack faded and her lungs stopped seizing, allowing her to relax "Sakura-sama" Koatsu called softly when she buried her face against the Jonin's flak jacket.

Pale as a ghost "I'm okay" she called back quietly, body shaking from the after effects of her attack and almost kidnapping, it was the first time she'd felt truly afraid for her life, Koatsu bowed his head in response and disappeared in a plume of smoke.

Genma blew out his own relieved sigh as he stood gathering the exhausted kunoichi in his arms and taking off through the forest back to the bridge builders house to stay there and wait until Kakashi, Hayate and the two genin boys returned.

Speaking of those on the bridge, Sasuke was sporting quite a few puncture wounds from throwing needles courtesy of Haku as Zabuza had called him while trying to protect Tazuna until Hayate had engaged the fifteen year old.

Kakashi was furious to say the least "What's the matter Kakashi, worried about your kunoichi are you" Zabuza taunted, easily getting under the Copy Ninja's skin as he engaged the other man with Kubikiribocho.

"Don't underestimate Sakura" Kakashi grunted, shoving back against the ridiculously huge sword with his kunai knife and taking a swing at the rogue before that sword was back, bearing it's weight down on him and trying to throw off his balance.

Behind him Naruto and Sasuke nodded "Yeah she could run circles around anyone you send her way believe it" Naruto stuck out his tongue and had his head shoved down as a kunai whizzed through the air and flew over him.

He had been it's intended target though even as it sailed over the bridge and fell into the ocean below "Dobe….there's no need to tell him that" Sasuke scolded, using that deplorable nickname causing the blonde the flush sheepishly.

Just then Haku came rolling their way from a timed attack by an illusioned Hayate, a slice upon his chest, though it wasn't deep to kill it was enough to incapacitate him "Zabuza-sama" Haku grimaced, struggling to his feet.

Mist thickened the air once more but the jutsu faded quickly as lightning crackled in the air, followed by what sounded like hundreds of birds chirping, Naruto clapped his hands over his ears at the same moment Haku disappeared on them.

"Where did he go" Tazuna shouted when a blast of chakra nearly swept them off their feet and the other Jonin that had been fighting against the teenager appeared, sheathing his sword as he did so but staring grimly ahead of him.

All eyes turned in that direction to see a gruesome sight, Haku had thrown himself between Zabuza and Kakashi's jutsu, blood was painted on the ground in a horrifying way but the rogue was seemingly unaffected.

Seeing as he'd just tried to hack right through the dead Haku, Kakashi laid the teenager out on the ground and closed the boys eyes and as much as they all wanted to look away they couldn't, they had to see this through to the end.

"I think I'll go check on Genma see if he managed to get to Sakura-san in time" Hayate said suddenly seeing as Zabuza was on his last leg anyway, with that he was gone with a simple hand sign missing the appearance of the other subordinate of Zabuza's.

But Zabuza was quite clearly done as he fell over "Your finished Zabuza" the Copycat Ninja informed in a deadly tone of voice, ready to make the killing blow, but Zabuza had one last thing to do as he flared his chakra.

Kimimaro came forward "Boy I know you only followed me out of respect for Haku who helped you, your free to go, no longer my tool, take him with you Kakashi, he'll be a good asset to your village" the rogue muttered.

Life fading quickly and like that Zabuza was no more "Did you hurt Sakura" Kakashi narrowed his mismatched eyes on the unknown teenager before him, Kimimaro shook his head and he relaxed if only marginally.

"My name is Kimimaro Kaguya, it's just as Zabuza said, Haku did me a favor back when my clan tried to take over Kirigakure and they were all slaughtered, barring myself of course and I followed them, but no I didn't harm Sakura-san" Kimimaro explained.

Not daring to lie now that his life was in someone else's hands, Kakashi nodded in acceptance then adjusted his hitai-ate so it sat crooked and covered his sharingan once more "Your giving in a little to easily there" the raven haired preteen chimed in.

Glaring at him with glinting red pinwheel covered eyes, alluding to what clan he was descended from "Because I know I would end up like Zabuza and Haku should I fight now, plus I only followed orders to survive" the last Kaguya in existence rolled his vibrant green eyes.

The glaring became even more furious until the lone blonde turned and let out a startled gasp "Sasuke your eyes it's just like Kakashi-sensei's believe it" the knucklehead shouted, easing the tension between the two males.

As he dug through his pouch for a compact mirror "Something to think on later, let's get these two buried Kimimaro-kun, Naruto, Sasuke, Tazuna-san please go back to the house" Kakashi ordered, keeping Kimimaro close and within seeing distance.

Because he didn't quite trust the boy yet "Very well Kakashi-san" Kimimaro nodded his acquiesce by simply picking up Haku, leaving Zabuza to Kakashi before the two of them disappeared over the edge of the unfinished bridge.

Naruto turned tail and simply ran "Knucklehead" Sasuke scoffed, but after deactivating his newly awakened sharingan, hurried after his teammate so they could make sure Sakura was okay together, to Tazuna's chagrin.

Seeing as he was left behind in their dust "Could have warned me they were going to take off like bullets" the bridge builder grumbled hurrying after the genin, though he knew he wouldn't catch up with them in time.

Since they reached the house first "Well where are they" Tazuna huffed, when he finally did make it home and only found his daughter in the living room, Tsunami sniffed lightly then pointed towards the stairs.

His heart lurched in his chest and already fearing the worst sped up the stairs as quickly as his age would allow him until he reached the second floor landing and made it to the room Sakura had taken up temporary residence in.

To find everyone crowded around a sleeping Sakura "She had a pretty bad asthma attack" Genma explained when he saw the bridge builder peering cautiously into the room, the look on his face said he'd been expecting the worst out of the situation.

"Is she..do you think she'll be alright" the gray haired elder wrung his hands nervously, casting the sleeping girl an extremely worried stare, though she remained unconscious, chest rising and falling unevenly.

Proving that her asthma attack had been very bad "Don't know, she might be sore and find it difficult to breathe when she wakes up and I was just about to ask if these two knew anything about the kind of medicine she takes, would it help her" the tokujo questioned.

Flicking the throwing needle in his mouth back and forth in an extremely maddening way, Naruto and Sasuke shared a look "Not exactly, see before we became a team neither of us were on the best of terms with Sakura" the Uchiha crinkled his nose.

Remembering how horrific he'd been to the girl "So we've only really been proper friends for about a month you know" the blonde Uzumaki grimaced, clearly remembering the same thing as Sasuke for their faces twisted with guilt for their actions.

Genma groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration "Can you check on the bottle she keeps the medicine in to see what effects it does on Sakura-san" the onyx eyed brunet interrupted, Naruto made a dash over to the corner where Sakura's pack was.

Then awkwardly searched through the pockets for Sakura's medicine before handing it over to Hayate, he and Genma read over the prescription only for Genma to groan yet again, rousing Sakura from her slumber.

She came to with a jolt before realizing where she was "Oh…your back" was all Sakura managed to say before her face twisted in pain and she rubbed her chest where her lungs were, obviously hurting from the asthma attack.

Naruto and Sasuke quickly sat on either side of her "Yeah Sakura-chan, Sasuke kinda got beat up a little by that fake hunter nin guy that worked for Zabuza but Kakashi-sensei took care of the both of them believe it" Naruto informed.

Grabbing her hand and being absolutely gentle with his teammate "A..And wh..what about the other one" the rose haired Nara prodded lightly, wheezing a bit, while inwardly vowing to never overexert herself like she had that day again.

"Ah…about that, you see Momochi decided to leave the other guy in Kakashi's hands so I think he'll be coming back to Leaf with us" Sasuke grimaced, awkwardly snagging Sakura's free hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

He wasn't the best at reassuring people after all, Sakura was quiet after his admission though until Kakashi returned with her almost abductor in tow and at the sight of him went completely rigid in response "Ease up there Sakura-chan, Kimimaro-kun is on our side now" Kakashi soothed.

Knowing it would take some time for his female student to warm up to the sole Kaguya survivor "Mm" Sakura responded noncommittally but kept hold of her teammates as Kimimaro entered the room and sat far away from her.

Utterly silent until Tsunami decided to join the lot of them "For Sakura-chan" Tsunami held out a tray with lunch on it for the girl, who probably wouldn't be able to join them downstairs, Sakura accepted the tray with little fuss.

And Kakashi furrowed his brow in confusion "Did I miss something" the silver haired Jonin inquired feeling like something had happened, he shot a look to Kimimaro who shook his head, answering without answering that he really hadn't done anything to Sakura.

"I had an asthma attack Kakashi-sensei after he left from trying to kidnap me" the fuscia haired preteen said, eyeing Kimimaro warily, not entirely assured that the teenager was on their side now despite her sensei saying so.

Though she did feel better after eating a little and taking her medicine "You have asthma, how" Kimimaro straightened in his spot against the wall, Sakura nodded quietly but didn't explain, not up to it right now anyway.

So her teammates took over "Vasculitis, it causes a variety of symptoms and one of them is asthma" the ebony haired genin said, giving a shortened version of the explanation Sakura always gave them.

They definitely knew more though "My apologies I had no intention of harming you despite what you think" the ivory haired teenager sighed, even though his apology did little good right now, he would just have to show the girl he meant it whenever it could.

For as often as he could until she really forgave him "You got to understand though, Sakura-chan would have never gone with your or become a hostage" the blonde haired genin chimed in and Sakura shot him a small smile in response.

Their sensei sighed "By the way your constructions workers are alive and well, they only made it seem like they were dead, it was the same trick as before, the temporary death state Zabuza was put in" Kakashi turned his attention on Tazuna.

Explaining that tidbit before sitting against the wall and thanking the kami that none of his students had been taken from him "I see, thank you for all you've done, you kids to and I'm sorry for constantly insulting you" Tazuna heaved a sigh of relief.

Grateful that Sakura was going to be okay then left the room and subsequently the house to go check on his construction workers, as for Tsunami she saw that none of the shinobi were inclined to leave Sakura's guest room and decided to bring up lunch for everyone.

So it was just her and Inari at the table that afternoon "Everything's going to be okay now right Mom" Inari asked hesitantly daring to hope after so long of being under Gato's tyrannical rule, his mother paused.

Before looking at him then slowly she nodded "Yes Inari I believe so" the blue haired woman assured, doubly thankful of the shinobi and Sakura most of all for had it not been for her, Gato would probably still be out there with all his thugs and things probably would have ended differently.

Inari sighed "Good now we can hope again" the eight year old declared with a wide grin, feeling like his old self, then he polished off lunch and disappeared to go play, unafraid to do so now that the Land of Waves was free.

Upstairs Sakura had finished off lunch and decided to rest a bit longer so Kakashi shooed the males from her room and shut the door so that she was undisturbed "Suppose I ought to go make sure Tazuna-san's not getting into trouble" Genma snorted.

Chewing on the throwing needle in his mouth "And I'll go with him to make sure he doesn't cause trouble" Hayate coughed, with that the two of them were gone, Naruto and Sasuke shared a long suffering look with one another and then took up posts outside of Sakura's guest bedroom.

"Guess I'll just sit here for a bit then" Kimimaro sighed, unsure of what he was meant to do now as Kakashi wandered into his own guest bedroom, though kept the door open as he sat opposite of the two genin, probably to keep an eye on him.

Much later on dinner was a very quiet affair, hardly anyone spoke and afterwards they all went to bed until a week and a half later, with only one week left on the mission Tazuna's bridge was declared finished.

So the shinobi packed up, bid their client farewell and hurried across the finished bridge "What do you suppose we should name it" Tsunami looked at the bridge her Father had worked hard to complete, Tazuna shrugged.

But Inari had an idea "Why not the Great Team Seven & Company Bridge, kinda long yeah but it suits the situation" Inari exclaimed, both Mother and Grandfather nodded in agreement and so from then on the bridge was named the Great Team Seven & Company Bridge.

And two and a half days after their departure from the Land of Waves Team Seven with their backup and one tag-along returned to the Hidden Leaf Village, where Kimimaro was taken away by T&I and Kakashi dismissed his students.

Leaving Naruto and Sasuke to walk Sakura home where Yoshino grabbed her niece/adopted daughter in a hug and swore up and down that Sakura wasn't allowed to go on another outside the village mission no matter how much she pleaded.

Her final words were "No and that's final" the Nara Matriarch informed bluntly she would be taking no more chances where her niece was concerned, Naruto and Sasuke grimaced but promised they'd be by the next day and returned to their own homes just grateful to be back.


	7. Chapter 6

As promised they were back the following morning "Yoshino-oba-chan I'm heading out" Sakura called when she heard a knock, and knowing it could only be her teammates or Shino if he felt like it, felt no need to be wary.

Yoshino narrowed her eyes on her niece/daughter "No causing trouble you hear and if I hear one word of you collapsing I'm pulling you from your team permanently do you understand Sakura" the Nara Matriarch warned.

Still furious "Oh come on, it wasn't my fault that I had an asthma attack and you know it, nor was it Kakashi-sensei's or Naruto or Sasuke's fault" the pinkette huffed, upset that she was being the one punished alongside her team.

The woman in response to being back-talked pursed her lips "Sakura you know what happens when you talk back to me don't you, I suggest you watch your mouth young lady" Yoshino frowned sternly.

Knowing that she was overreacting but Sakura was her daughter regardless of not giving birth to the girl "I know but Yoshino-oba-chan your not being fair right now" Sakura frowned back already on her way to the door.

Before Yoshino could say anything more she was gone from the house, to spend time with her teammates "You know Sakura's right Yoshino, punishing her for having an asthma attack when she can't help it isn't right" Shikaku told his wife.

When he poked his head into the kitchen after listening to the conversation between the two women of the house "How else am I supposed to protect her then Shikaku" the Nara Matriarch asked even if she knew her husband was right.

Shikaku shook his head "The same way we have in the past by letting her be herself, Sakura knows her limits Yoshino, and from what I heard from Kakashi, if it hadn't been for the boy he brought back pursuing her Sakura would have been just fine" the Jonin Commander said.

His wife sighed in response "Perhaps…I was a little harsh on her" Yoshino relented, promising to make Sakura's favorite that night for supper and apologize for being so tyrannical, Shikaku nodded and headed back into his den to nap.

~Meanwhile~

Elsewhere in the village Sakura was ranting and raving up a storm "And thanks to all that Oba-chan's on the warpath, she even threatened to pull me from the team" Sakura finished looking positively miserable.

Her teammates had no idea how to even respond to that "Doesn't she know it's not your fault" Sasuke frowned, then again he didn't really know what it was like for Sakura in the past seeing as they hadn't been close so couldn't really say anything.

Sakura huffed "Yes but she's being purposefully tyrannical about the whole thing" the rose haired Nara grumbled, and to their horror tears were even beginning to trickle down her cheeks from the emotional stress.

"In any case Sakura-chan you need to calm down, I know your angry but if you keep going on as you are, you'll collapse again and we don't want that" Naruto frowned sternly, wondering how he had become so mature lately.

Oh that's right when Sakura was assigned to his team, "Your right but it's still not fair" Sakura sniffled, scrubbing at her eyes to get rid of the tears, it wasn't often she cried but once she started it was hard to stop.

Sasuke grimaced "Maybe not and perhaps your Aunt will see how this has affected you but for now lets just enjoy our time off without worrying about all that drama alright Sakura" the second to last Uchiha suggested.

Grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze "Sasuke's right Sakura-chan, lets have some fun" the Uzumaki cheered, dashing ahead of his teammates, Sakura clearly enjoying herself until she had to get back home for lunch.

"Thanks you two" the pinkette waved as she opened the door to her house, watching Naruto and Sasuke wave back before the door shut and then she steeled her nerves, thinking that Yoshino was going to be in the same mood as earlier.

Imagine her surprise though as she was swept up into a hug by her Aunt "Shikaku talked to me, I wasn't being fair on you or those boys Sakura-chan, so as an apology I'm making your favorite tonight, do you think you can forgive me" the Nara Matriarch asked.

Hoping that her niece/daughter wasn't to angry "Nothing to forgive, I know you were worried and I can't fault you for that Mother" Sakura brightened, feeling as if a year had been taken off her shoulders, plus Sasuke had been right to her shock.

Pleased that Sakura was so willing to let the whole debacle of that morning go Yoshino headed back into the kitchen to continue making lunch "Enjoy Sakura-chan" Yoshino declared plating up the food once it was done.

While inwardly promising to herself to get those boys on Sakura's team a little something for no doubt being the ones to keep the obstinate temperamental girl calm and susceptible, Sakura gave thanks to the meal, took her medicine and dug straight in.

"Right I'm going to go see if Shino is free" the fuscia haired Nara popped up, not daring to leave her dishes unwashed even if she had plans to visit her friend, because she didn't want another war to start, then traipsed once more out of the house, all the way to the Aburame Compound.

Shibi wasn't to surprised that she would come visit so soon after her return having heard after all, but Shino looked at her like she was a ghost "Are you really here, why because I thought you were on a mission" Shino blinked wondering how he could have missed her return.

The girl nodded "I'm really here Shino-kun, and I was until yesterday" Sakura assured, relieved she had a chance to spend some time with her best friend, Shino looked visibly relieved himself probably over the fact that she was back from her mission.

"How was the mission by the way, nothing to strenuous I hope" the Aburame heir questioned, leading the way to his family library knowing instinctively Sakura wasn't up to running around catching butterflies or other insects.

Sakura cringed lightly unbeknownst to him "She's back isn't she son, try not to ask to many questions alright" Shibi saw it though and tried to sway Shino from questioning the girl to much who had already been warned about telling others what had happened.

Plus he was sure she didn't want Shino to know she'd collapsed during the mission "It was fine Shino-kun, hardly a challenge" the pinkette lied through her teeth in the next moment, hating to do so but she knew she couldn't tell him and Shibi nodded in acceptance.

Maybe someday she'd be able to tell Shino the truth but that day wasn't now unfortunately "Good" Shino nodded, unaware that he hadn't been told the truth in any capacity and for the next two hours he and Sakura stayed in the library reading about all kinds of insects that caught their fancy.

Until she had to go home for dinner "See you tomorrow if I can Shino-kun" Sakura waved then was gone, Shino shook his head at her antics, but he was pleased she was doing alright as he went to have dinner with his Father.

Upon her return to the house Shikamaru shot her a scowl worthy of their mother "What did you think you were doing running about where you could collapse again Sakura" Shikamaru scolded harshly not liking that she'd been off on her own.

Immediately her temper flared "Don't start Shikamaru, I wasn't alone and I don't need that crap from you" the rose haired Nara snapped, but what surprised her was when she heard a knock and when she opened the door there stood her two teammates.

"Lazy ass is just worried right lazy ass so don't be to mad okay Sakura-chan" Naruto soothed easily having heard the conversation from the other side of the door and the last thing anyone needed at the dinner table was an upset Sakura.

Who calmed at the sight of them but still shot her cousin a couple of glares "Though Sakura's right, she wasn't alone, this morning up until lunch she was with us and then if I'm not wrong she went to see Aburame" Sasuke informed.

Able to guess that much and he was right as Sakura nodded "So not that I'm not happy to see you guys but what are you doing here" Sakura asked when they stepped into the foyer of her house and took off their sandals, indicating they were staying for awhile.

"Your Aunt invited us to dinner, did she not tell you she was going to do that" the Uchiha explained their presence with a raised brow and Sakura shook her head in answer telling him one thing that her Aunt had kept it secret.

Naruto snickered "Well now you know Sakura-chan" the Uzumaki grinned, gently ushering Sakura forward to the living room since it was apparent dinner was finished yet, Shikamaru watched them with a dubious look.

But he couldn't find a single fault in the way they treated Sakura "Either way you still should be more careful Sakura" the Nara Heir frowned at his cousin/sister unwilling to let the subject go, in fact he thought she shouldn't even be a ninja in the first place.

Though he wasn't going to say that to her face "Stuff it Shika, quit being such a drag" the rosette snipped out, to happy to be as angry at him as she was a few minutes ago, due to the presence of her teammates, as they sat around chatting about this and that until supper was ready.

And just as they were crowding around the table they were joined by the Jonin Commander "Boys, I didn't realize we were having guests for dinner Yoshino" Shikaku greeted, taking his seat as he did so and staring at his wife.

Yoshino smiled innocently as she plated up the food before taking her own spot at the table "Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun I want to thank you for everything you've done for Sakura-chan since you became a team, with that here's a little something for the both of you" the Nara Matriarch announced.

Handing over what she'd gotten from the market earlier when she'd bought the ingredients for Sakura's favorite food and invited them both over for dinner "Uh, er thanks Mrs. Nara but you didn't have to get us anything, we're happy to help you know" Naruto scratched his cheek.

Feeling just a tiny bit embarrassed "Knucklehead's right it's our responsibility as Sakura's teammates to look after her" Sasuke said, a little flustered himself but the woman wouldn't let them refuse the gifts.

"Still, I have you two to thank for keeping her grounded and not flying off the handle at every little thing" Yoshino smiled, making them understand that Sakura's temper had been much worse than they realized before they'd all became a team.

So they silently accepted the gifts for what they were, while Sakura huffed at her aunt for a moment not truly angry and more exasperated than anything but grateful to have even this much family as they ate supper, then she walked Naruto and Sasuke to the door and saw them off.

And a couple days later it was back to D Ranks and training with an unexpected tag-a-long to her chagrin "Don't Sakura-chan, Hokage-sama decided that it was better for us to keep an eye on Kimimaro-kun than anyone else" Kakashi saw the girls expression.

It was wary and extremely un-trusting of the Kaguya survivor "And I won't get in the way of your duties until such a time the Hokage deems me fit to join your ranks" Kimimaro bowed his head, knowing there was a long road ahead of him getting the girl to see him as a friend.

"Unfortunately Kimimaro-kun you'll be stuck doing missions with us regardless of being a shinobi of this village or not" the Copy Ninja informed to his horror because he'd heard what kind of missions genin were slated.

To that Sakura finally cracked a smile "The missions aren't so bad Kaguya-san" Sakura giggled unsympathetically as they made the trek up the steps of the Hokage Tower to get whatever D Ranks were available.

Kakashi sighed and shook his head at his students antics "Yeah right Sakura-chan, D Ranks are horrible" Naruto groaned already back to whining about how D Ranks were for babies, but he wasn't going to make the mistake of giving them another C Rank just yet.

Not until he was absolutely sure they were ready this time "Naruto better watch it, you know what she's like when you complain like that" Sasuke hissed at the blonde, having learned his lesson, especially being around Sakura.

Like that Naruto promptly shut up and quit whining as they entered the room where they would be assigned their missions "The usual D Rank I assume Kakashi-kun" Hiruzen chuckled when he spotted their approach.

He nodded and with that they were given five D Ranks to complete "And if you do well I'll treat you to lunch and do some training tomorrow" Kakashi said, giving the brats incentive to behave and do their missions.

With that they were off, the first mission being to help an elderly couple buy groceries "I suppose this isn't so bad" the Uzumaki commented, realizing the elderly couple really needed help, especially if it was to the point where they had to hire ninja.

Once they were finished Naruto got a surprise "For your troubles, I'm sure it must be terribly demeaning for you to come and help us after all" the couple chipped in a little extra, each of them got an extra 50 yen.

"Nah it's our job you know" Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, no longer feeling as if D Ranks were for babies, all missions were important just like Sakura was all the time trying to tell him but he was only just now getting.

Even Sasuke wasn't complaining as much as he use to as they headed to their next mission, which was walking the dogs from the pound again, Naruto this time having learned from last time chose a dog that he could handle and the mission went off without a hitch.

Sasuke did have a question for the one in charge of the dog pound though "Can we walk them even when it's not required to do so" the Uchiha inquired, having been thinking about helping his village out more, thoughts of revenge far and few nowadays as he committed to team life.

"Of course you can" the man nodded a little surprised, genin hated menial chores like this but here was one wanting to walk the dogs without it being a mission and he eyed the boys Jonin who shrugged not having an answer for him.

As the Uchiha nodded "Good, expect to see me around sometime" Sasuke informed, letting himself be ushered away to their third mission of the day, which was helping out at the academy for some reason.

Kimimaro was not amused especially when he was put in charge of an obnoxious six year old who wouldn't listen to a single word he said "Having trouble Kaguya-san" the pink haired Nara asked, seeing the issue he was having.

"Quite, apparently I have no skills in managing children" the ivory haired teen grimaced, surprised she was even talking to him, then again this was a mission and if for nothing else but the sake of it she would help him probably.

Proving his point as the girl aimed a smile at the child "Please Daiki don't cause Kaguya-san to much trouble alright, he's not use to all of you like we are" Sakura requested sweetly, embarrassing the little boy.

Who nodded grudgingly and finally settled "Thank you" Kimimaro sighed in relief and was glad when the remaining two D Ranks were finished in record time, Kakashi as promised treated them to lunch at Ichiraku before dismissing them for the day, though he was stuck with the Jonin.

While the others headed off to parts unknown to him still "Missions go alright, Naruto didn't do anything to fail you did he" Shikamaru asked from where he was lazing on the couch when Sakura glided into the living room and flopped down on the opposite couch.

She perked up "Just fine Shikamaru and nope, he was well-behaved today and tomorrow Kakashi-sensei's going to have us do some training" the pinkette declared, obviously in a good mood and excited for the following day to his chagrin.

"Troublesome just take care of yourself then" the Nara heir grumbled, before closing his eyes to take his late afternoon nap, Sakura rolled her eyes at him and pulled a book out of her pouch to read, deciding to just stay in for the rest of the day.

And then after breakfast the next morning headed for her teams training grounds, Naruto and Sasuke already there where ten minutes after Kakashi showed up with Kimimaro in tow "Morning my little ducklings are you ready for training" the silver haired Jonin greeted.

Not expecting retaliation only to be surprised as Naruto gave him a mischievous smile "If your going to keep calling us that, maybe we should start calling you Mama Duck instead of Kakashi-sensei what do you guys think Sakura-chan, Sasuke" Naruto chirped.

Looking to his teammates both of whom shared equally as mischievous smiles and nodded "Yeah that's right it's only fair if we're ducklings after all" Sasuke smirked, inwardly enjoying the annoyed glare he was shot.

"Guess we're all in agreement then Mama Duck-sensei" Sakura giggled, joining in on her teammates antics, the only one out of the loop of things was Kimimaro who stepped away from the Jonin as he glared at his students.

Very incensed about being called Mama Duck apparently at least that's what it seemed like to him, only for him to be wrong "Honestly, fine I'll stop calling you my little ducklings" Kakashi relented certainly not wanting to be called Mama Duck in front of his fellow Jonin.

It would be utterly mortifying "Shouldn't you be angrier Kakashi-san, I mean they were mocking you" Kimimaro frowned not understanding the dynamics between the genin of Team Seven and their sensei.

But the man shook his head "Most would be I suppose, but I know how these three are, they like to push buttons, mine especially, it's how the entertain themselves and sometimes I find enjoyment out of it as well so it's all in good fun most of the time" the Copy Ninja said.

Seeing where the teenager was coming from "But on that note it's time to get started, I thought we'd do a bit of stamina training then I'd teach you kids your elements along with a couple of jutsu" Kakashi informed in the next moment.

"Even me" the Kaguya survivor couldn't help but ask when he was assigned ten laps unlike how the others were given five laps, being considerate of Sakura no doubt who started out slow and steady so she didn't collapse.

This was followed by push ups and sit ups until they were sufficiently warmed up "Just so you know Kakashi I already know my element which is Fire and know a few jutsu" the Uchiha under his command admitted.

He still had to take the test though "Not just Fire Sasuke-kun, but Lightning as well, see you learn something new about yourself every day, I suspected Naruto-kun would have Wind but Sakura-chan surprises me by having Water and Earth chakra natures" Kakashi mused.

Already thinking of the limitless possibilities this entailed for his students, "Let's not forget I have Earth and Fire Nature chakra myself" Kimimaro chimed in not wanting to be left out, while peering surreptitiously at Sakura.

Who looked excited and enraptured with what her sensei was saying "Of course not Kimimaro-kun, now for the jutsu's, watch carefully, I'll show Sakura-chan first, Suiton: Bubble Stream Jutsu" the silver haired Jonin flashed through hand signs slowly.

Demonstrating the jutsu as he blew out a stream of lethal bubbles that destroyed a target "As for the second jutsu Doton: Earth Staff Jutsu and with your chakra control Sakura-chan I know you'll have them down easy" Kakashi smiled once he'd finished.

Smiling because Sakura looked so adorable in her determination as she marched to a spot a few meters away to practice her jutsu "I won't let you down Kakashi-sensei" Sakura vowed, eyes bright with that he turned his attention on the boys next.

Naruto was taught the Futon: Gale Palm Jutsu "Just so you know I might need help if I don't understand" Naruto warned, not very good with the theory aspect of jutsu's, thankfully his sensei did understand that.

Lucky Sasuke was taught Katon: Phoenix Flower Jutsu and Raiton: Lightning Ball respectively for his elemental natures "Heh not very challenging Kakashi" Sasuke snorted but found his own spot to stand and practice with the new jutsu's.

Kakashi rolled his eyes but focused on Kimimaro who learned Doton: Mudwall Jutsu and Katon: Fireball Jutsu and with that he stood back to watch, taking note of how each of his students practiced to come up with a plan on how to teach his students properly for the next time.

Until finally it was time to go and he happily dismissed them, Sakura having gotten down her jutsu like he'd thought she would, Sasuke, he already knew would get the jutsu but Naruto still had a little trouble but that would be for their next training session.

So for the next two weeks Team Seven was taught a variety of jutsu and trained in various different ways "Darn it Kakashi-sensei when are you going to give us a break, don't you think we've earned it after working so hard lately" the blonde Uzumaki scowled.

Probably past his limit of what he could handle but still being mature enough to know he might not get a break even by asking "Of course you've worked hard Naruto-kun that was the point of all our training sessions as for a break…" the Copy Ninja trailed off.

Musing over the request, taking his time to see how long Naruto would wait for an answer "I suppose that would be fine, the day after tomorrow in fact, as long as you meet me on the bridge at nine" Kakashi relented.

"Good enough for us Kakashi but did you have to take so long" the Uchiha grunted unamused by the man's antics, it was that right there that made him want to pick at the guy just to see how far he could push his buttons really.

Kakashi smirked bunching up the corners of the mask he wore "Mou Sasuke-kun I'm allowed to have a little fun aren't I, anyway you three are dismissed now shoo" the silver haired Jonin sulked, getting moderately disturbed looks from two of his students.

While the last giggled under her breath "Honestly Naruto, Sasuke you should learn not to let Kakashi-sensei get under your skin all the time" the pink haired Nara snickered, walking away as quickly as she could before she really broke down laughing, leaving the two on their own.

And the following morning the three of them met up to greet their sensei on the specified bridge, only to run into trouble "HEY WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING TO KONOHAMARU" Naruto shouted.

Seeing the older foreign shinobi rearing back his fist to punch the Hokage's grandson "Great more annoyances, get lost punks or I'll teach you the same lesson I'm about to teach this brat, how to respect his betters" the brunet in the cat-hoodie glared.

Naruto shot Sakura a hopeful pleading glance "Ahem I can't guarantee you'll be allowed to stay in Leaf if you hit Konohamaru, seeing as he's Hokage-sama's grandchild" Sakura warned, saying just the thing to get the unknown genin to release the boy.

As Konohamaru scrambled towards her and latched on trembling "Frigging brats, threatening to tell your Hokage for such a stupid thing as hitting the little punk" the foreign teenager grumbled clearly in some foul mood.

His moaning and groaning immediately incensed Sakura who whipped around just as they were walking away "What does that say for you then, wanting to hit a child, I think it's you who needs to learn respect you jerk" the rosette spat.

Clearly pissed off, "Let it go Sakura" Sasuke put his hand on her shoulder, not wanting things to end with her collapsing as he gently ushered her forward, wanting to get as far from the foreign shinobi as he could before Sakura went ballistic.

"Thanks Sakura-nee-chan for helping me, you to Naruto-ni, Sasuke-ni" Konohamaru sniffled once they were well enough away and Sakura had massively calmed now that the object of her anger was out of sight and sound.

In response she smiled down at him and ruffled his hair "No problem Konohamaru but on that note we really should get going or Kakashi-sensei will think his late tendencies have rubbed off on us" the blonde reminded.

Noting the time which was five minutes past the meet up time stated "Damn your right" the raven on the team winced, lifting Sakura to her chagrin and taking off at a fast run, leaping over fences and houses to reach the bridge in record breaking time.

Only to find Kakashi not there yet, Kimimaro was though and he eyed them confusedly "Any reason your carrying Sakura-san, Sasuke-san" Kimimaro raised an ivory brow, before straightening "Were you in some kind of trouble" he reiterated in a questioning tone.

But the trio shook their heads "Just late, but apparently Kakashi is going to be late too, wonder what's taking him though, cause since that first week he hasn't been this late in awhile" Sasuke frowned, glancing at the sun to check the time.

Yep Kakashi was definitely the latest he'd been since the first week of them being taught by him "Probably something important came up Sasuke, I wouldn't worry, right Kimimaro-san" Sakura glanced to Kimimaro who lived with Kakashi full-time right now.

The teenager nodded, more than pleased that the tension had eased between them enough where she felt comfortable saying his first name now "Yes, every Jonin was called in for a meeting with Hokage-sama" Kimimaro informed.

With that they settled in for a long wait "Ugh even with the meeting this is a pain believe it" Naruto sighed an hour later, bored out of his skull as the four of them sat around, Sakura pat his hand sympathetically, just glad they weren't having to run around.

Considering how hot it was getting as the morning progressed, it was looking to be a pretty warm day and she was beginning to regret wearing her full ninja gear, thankfully though thirty minutes later Kakashi finally showed up.

"I'm sure Kimimaro-kun already told you…so therefore I feel no need to explain myself or give excuses, that being said I nominated you three for the Chunin Exams" Kakashi raised a brow at his students and they nodded, before informing them of his decision.

All three of them froze "Guess that explains why there's foreign ninja running about acting like complete and utter asses, but are you sure we're ready for something like that Kakashi-sensei" the pink haired Nara scowled in sudden understanding.

Eyeing her sensei who looked suddenly conflicted "No, not really but I thought I'd give you the option instead of outright refusing to nominate you" the Copy Ninja admitted, knowing his students could be mature if they really put their minds to it.

Sakura winced herself "Thanks Kakashi but I think we'll pass" the Uchiha declared not wanting to risk their lives or Sakura's if he was being honest, they were going to need a lot more stamina and other kinds of training before they were ready, that's how he felt at least.

"Yeah, yeah" even the blonde knucklehead was in agreement to pass on the option to participate in the exam, Sakura sulked for a minute before finally nodding, plus there was no way her Aunt would allow it, at least not at this time anyway.

Kimimaro was the only one who didn't understand "I've seen you guys train, even joined in on your training sessions, how could you not think you were ready" the Kaguya Survivor frowned, because usually they were eager to do something, like show up other genin for instance.

This earned a sigh from Sakura "Me…don't deny it you two, I would just hold them back if we were to enter at this time and the standard is to wait a year anyway that way we can polish our skills and improve to where we do feel ready" Sakura said.

Giving her teammates a look when they started trying to deny their reasoning for wanting to pass "Exactly, plus I highly doubt Mrs. Nara would let Sakura-chan participate if she wanted to" Naruto grimaced.

Not wanting the woman to go on another rampage and upset Sakura again so it was better to avoid the situation all together and wait until they really were ready "Precisely, that woman is terrifying" Sasuke shuddered.

Having seen tyrannical Yoshino could get, especially when dealing with her lazy husband and equally as lazy son, he certainly didn't want a repeat that's for damn sure and Kakashi couldn't help but laugh at them.

"Of course she's terrifying Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, Yoshino is above all else a mother who is extremely protective" Kakashi ruffled their hair fondly, though there was one woman who came to mind that was even more frightening than Yoshino but he couldn't say.

Leaving Kimimaro feeling very confused "That's your prerogative I suppose" Kimimaro relented, following after Kakashi as he dismissed his students, where the three of them headed off in the same direction to his surprise.

Upon setting foot in the house Yoshino was before them hands on her hips and looking positively livid "If You Think For One Minute Sakura Nara That I'll Allow You To Participate In the Chunin Exams You Have Another Thing Coming So I Suggest You Put It Out Of Your Mind Right This Instant Do You Understand Me" Yoshino ground out.

Expecting a fight from her niece/daughter and her teammates only to blink when Sakura sighed "Yoshino-oba-chan I'm not going to fight with you on this, don't worry we already decided to pass on the opportunity…this time at least" the pinkette informed.

"Oh well in that case I suppose I have nothing to worry about" the Nara Matriarch huffed, deflating a little bit because she'd thought Sakura would want to try the exam out, only to feel massively relieved that the girl was going to wait awhile.

As she turned on her heel and led the way into the living room "Don't worry Mrs. Nara we would never endanger Sakura-chan like that anyway" the blonde on Team Seven chimed in, plopping down on the couch as he did so.

"Besides there's more we could learn from Kakashi and if we did take the exam and even pass them which is a big if right there, that would take time away from training with him as we'd be sent on more missions" the raven on the team said.

Not wanting the sporadic training sessions to stop because Kakashi was teaching them properly surprisingly and they all learned quite a bit from the man, he also sat down on the couch, a lot less stiffly than he use to, while Sakura and Naruto nodded, leaving Yoshino more baffled than ever.

Before she shrugged and decided that perhaps being on a team was a good thing for Sakura, she had teammates who considered her condition in all aspects of it, kept her grounded and from flying off at the handle and best of all were becoming like second and third sons to her.

To that she nodded and headed into the kitchen to get started on lunch, because she knew the boys wouldn't be leaving any time soon, they were avid Sakura supporters after all, to her ultimate pleasure.

It was as she was finishing up lunch that Shikamaru came home, expression one of determination and before she could stop him lay he lay into Sakura "Don't Even Think About Taking Part In the Chunin Exams Sakura, I Won't Allow IT" Shikamaru glared.

The most motivated he'd ever been as he punctuated the last word forcefully, Sakura leveled him her most unimpressed scowl "Do Shut Up Shikamaru, I already told Mom that I was passing on it so keep your demands to yourself" Sakura snapped.

Hating how everyone ganged up on her like this, it was like they thought she was stupid and incapable of rational decisions "Oh dear" Yoshino sighed when the girl stood and stormed from the room while Shikamaru stared after her wearing a pained look on his face.

"No wonder Sakura-chan's temper is bad, did it even occur to you Shikamaru, that maybe she's capable of making rational decisions without everyone being so demanding of her all the time" Naruto frowned.

Defending his teammate "Plus even if she wanted to participate you wouldn't be able to stop her" Sasuke added and Yoshino grudgingly nodded, in the end she couldn't stop either of her children from doing something they wanted.

Shikamaru let out a miserable sounding groan "It seems all I've done lately is piss her off, what a drag, this is why women are so troublesome" the Nara heir grumbled, dragging a hand down his face as he slumped onto the couch looking pathetic.

"There, there Shikamaru, Sakura will forgive you as she always does, but it's best to let her cool off on her own alright" the Nara Matriarch pat him sympathetically on the shoulder, went back into the kitchen to finish lunch then called out that it was done, where the five of them ate, Sakura refusing to so much as look at her cousin before disappearing back to her room, Naruto and Sasuke on her heels for a bit until they eventually left.

And a week later on the day the Chunin Exams were to officially start Kakashi grouped them all together for an unexpected team meeting and gave them the news "We're going on a training trip outside the village" Kakashi informed gleefully to their excitement.


	8. Chapter 7

Yoshino was not pleased, not in the least, because once again Kakashi wanted to take his students outside of the village "Please Mother I swear it won't be like before, it's just a training excursion" Sakura pleaded not wanting to fight over this.

And with that kind of hopeful face how could she refuse "How long are you all going to be gone, for that matter when are you leaving, I hope you have time to sufficiently prepare yourselves at least" Yoshino relented at long last.

Her niece/daughter brightening "A month, we'll be back about a week before the final round I think and yep we don't leave until tomorrow so I have time to renew my medicine prescription and buy supplies with Naruto and Sasuke" the rosette explained.

She wanted to scream "Just be careful and send your summons to let us know how all of you are doing please" the Nara Matriarch sighed, doing her best to be understanding and not as tyrannical as she usually was about the whole thing.

"I will Mom and absolutely" Sakura smiled, hurrying off to her room to pack for the month, which was easy considering she still hadn't unpacked from her last mission, so beyond sealing a few more articles of clothing into a scroll all that she really had to do was get supplies.

Which she could do with Naruto and Sasuke whenever they showed up, ~cue knocking sound~ and she bounded towards the door to answer it and found her teammates on the other side "So….how did telling Mrs. Nara go" Naruto inquired.

Peering into the eerily silent house "Fine Naruto, Yoshino-oba-chan wasn't scary this time" the pinkette snickered knowing her aunt had the knucklehead positively terrified of her and she found it utterly hilarious.

To that Naruto sighed in relief, dabbing at a bit of sweat that had beaded on his forehead as discretely as he could "Dobe your not fooling anyone, even I'm terrified of that woman" Sasuke snorted trying not to laugh.

Only to get a scowl "Laugh it up Teme I'll get you back for making fun of me just you wait" the Uzumaki warned, already inventing an entirely new prank just for Sasuke in his head which he would have to wait for awhile if he wanted to pull it on him.

"Right, sure Naruto, anyway are you ready to go Sakura and buy supplies for our training trip" the Uchiha rolled his eyes not taking the blonde seriously, Sakura was the next to roll her eyes before grabbing their hands and dragging them from the Nara Compound so they could shop.

By the time they returned to the house it was practically lunch time "Yoshino told me and I already made an appointment for you at 2:30 to get your new prescription" Shikaku rumbled once the trio had sat at the table.

Shikamaru noticeably absent as he participated in the exam, having been gone since straight after breakfast to be precise and he most likely wasn't going to learn about her excursion outside the village until much later when he couldn't complain.

"Thanks Shikaku-oji-san, even if I hate the thought of being poked and prodded at again, I want to go on this trip with my team and I know how important my medicine is" Sakura aimed a sweet yet grudging smile at her Uncle.

Who ruffled her hair an understanding but patient look on his face "Good girl, and try not to be to troublesome for Kakashi alright" the Jonin Commander rubbed her head then resumed eating what was left on his plate before disappearing from the house.

Leaving behind a huffing niece "You have a weird Uncle Sakura-chan" Naruto commented not for the first time because the truth of the matter was that Shikaku was weird even if he was the only one who thought that.

Prompting the Nara Matriarch to roll her eyes "More like lazy" Yoshino snorted, rising and gathering the dishes to start washing them, and seeing as how they had no where else to be or anything else to do Naruto and Sasuke decided to help so clean up went faster.

Until they were sprawled out on the couches thirty minutes later being lazy themselves "Shikamaru's gonna blow a gasket you do realize that Sakura" Sasuke said five minutes later as if the realization just hit him.

Earning a half-hearted glare "Ugh" the pinkette groaned, suddenly not feeling so well, both boys were at her side less than a second later and helping her get to the nearest trashcan to vomit into it, wasting all that delicious lunch she'd just finished eating before it could be digested.

"You okay Sakura-chan" the Nara Matriarch was the next to appear, but it looked like the vomiting spell was over as her skin regained it's color and her stomach settled, this was most likely probably due to her condition.

Which made her want to force the girl to stay home even more but she tamped down on the urge to be tyrannical "Say something Sakura-chan please" Naruto frowned when she lay on the couch eyes closed and breathing heavily.

Before finally answering "I'm better now, sorry that you had to see that" Sakura apologized sheepishly hating her weakness, Churg-Strauss Syndrome was the devil in disguise to her at least and she could hardly wait for the day a cure was found.

Or if she made it those were her only options "Don't apologize for what you can't help Sakura, it just gives us a better insight to helping you during these moments understand so never say your sorry again got it" the Uchiha scowled.

Hating that Sakura apologized every time she struggled due to her disease "What Sasuke means Sakura-chan is that we like helping you even if he won't admit it to you outright" the Uzumaki declared seeing through Sasuke's mask of indifference.

Immediately tears welled up in Sakura's eyes and spilled over "Sometimes I feel like I don't deserve to have you guys as teammates" the rosette sniffled, over-emotional all of a sudden as the boys sat down on either side of her and squeezed her hands in reassurance.

Yoshino watching with tears of her own, seeing the dynamics between the children and she knew her niece/daughter was going to be just fine, so she left them to be lazy until it was time for Sakura's appointment where she left with a new prescription that she picked up.

This time when they returned, Shikamaru was home himself, "Where are you getting back from, surely not missions or training this late" Shikamaru raised a dark brow on his sister/cousin when she entered the house behind him with her teammates.

"Picking up a new prescription for her medicine Shikamaru, Kakashi is taking us on a trip" Sasuke announced, deciding to get it over and done with by handling the situation himself so Sakura didn't cry again.

And he knew that's what would happen especially when Shikamaru straightened gearing up for a fight "Enough Shikamaru, I gave my consent" Yoshino nipped the coming argument quickly in the bud coming to the girls rescue unsurprisingly.

Shikamaru closed his mouth with an audible snap before groaning "Fine whatever troublesome, my team and I made it through the written exam portion of the exam and tomorrows the second round anyway" the Nara heir grumbled, shoulders drooping.

While he wanted to argue he knew better not to, so instead he flopped unceremoniously down on the couch, slung his arm over his eyes and five minutes later was snoring to absolutely no ones surprise "How does he even do that" Naruto eyed Shikamaru with a perturbed expression on his face.

"A special skill the men of the Nara clan possess if your wondering" Sakura giggled quietly, sitting down gracefully unlike how her cousin had just dropped down like a sack of potatoes onto the couch he was now napping on.

Eventually Naruto and Sasuke left to return to their own apartments, leaving their teammate to eat dinner with her family alone for the night before they finally regrouped in the morning after breakfast in which Shikamaru had headed off to participate in the second round of his exam.

Kakashi and Kimimaro met them at the gates "Ready to go you three and yes Kimimaro-kun is coming with us" Kakashi asked/said as they were signing out, not telling the whole truth, this was also a test for the boy to see if he would try to run the minute he was free of the village.

What he didn't count on was Sakura shooting him a narrow eyed glance as understanding dawned in her viridian eyes "Of course we're ready, what kind of question is that Kakashi-sensei" the blonde knucklehead snorted.

"Are you that eager to leave your village Naruto-san" Kimimaro teased, not looking forward to the trip in any capacity, what surprised him though was when Naruto shrugged in answer, moving out of the way so Sasuke could sign in next.

"I think it's less about being eager to leave the village and more excited for the training we'll be doing on this excursion Kaguya" the Uchiha explained, understanding that much about the blonde, because he himself was also interested in what sort of training Kakashi was going to give them.

Sakura rolled her eyes at their antics "Boys" the rose haired Nara huffed as she scrawled her name neatly on the sign out sheet, Kimimaro was next, with Kakashi being the last to sign his name on the sheet.

Before facing away from the village "Alright you four time to move out" the silver haired Jonin commanded, marching them down the path but going at a moderate pace so Sakura didn't have to struggle to keep up.

~There Hours Later~

He was impressed, because apparently Sakura had improved enough that she could last way longer than she use to, but he knew that it was time to take a break so pulled the group to a stop "Okay Kiddies, time for some survival training, make lunch for yourselves" Kakashi declared.

Naruto very nearly started whining about the unfairness of it all because his feet hurt something fierce and he certainly didn't want to go off hunting for something to eat but seeing Sakura look excited at the prospect of learning to fend for themselves made his stomach flip-flop in fear.

Considering they hadn't stopped for over three hours "How about we take it in turns, like I make lunch for us every day, Sasuke does dinner and Sakura-chan gets to make us breakfast" Naruto interjected quickly to stop the girl from disappearing on them.

"And I'll go with each of you to make sure nothing happens, seeing as I already know all this" Kimimaro offered, eyeing Sakura in a small manner of amusement as she slumped to the ground, pouting because she knew what Naruto was up to.

Who quickly vanished from their temporary camp with Kimimaro on his heels "Well that was interesting" Sasuke commented, a little shocked at how quickly Naruto had taken charge, it didn't happen but once in a blue moon but still it had amazed him.

Fourteen minutes later the two came back with things to make a fire such as sticks and leaves and dried grass, plus a string of fish slung over Naruto's arm "Guess this isn't so bad" Sakura sighed when the fish were being roasted on sticks over a roaring fire.

Kakashi had refused to let Sasuke use his fire jutsu so they'd had to learn how to make a fire the normal way and the reasoning for that was this "Because you won't always be able to use your chakra" the Copy Ninja lectured seriously.

Making them gulp and nod their heads in understanding, the implications of that statement completely understood, they might be out of chakra or it could be to dangerous to use a jutsu, basically looking beneath the underneath.

"You got it Kakashi-sensei" the blonde knucklehead gave the man a thumbs up, just glad he got to sit and do nothing until it was time to hit the road again, Kakashi imparting another survival lesson on them before they left.

Which was to make sure they never left any evidence of their being there behind "This is going to be a long month" the raven of Team Seven sighed, teammates nodding at him in agreement, but they were also looking forward to what else they'd be learning as well.

Ahead of them Kakashi shook his head in amusement "By the way what prompted this Kakashi-san, taking them on a trip such as this, especially when that exam is going on" the ivory haired teen questioned suddenly.

Sakura perking up to hear the answer herself "Yeah you did kind of spring this on us suddenly with no forewarning Kakashi-sensei" the pinkette piped in, having an idea about what this trip was really all about.

It was a test for Kimimaro of that she was absolutely sure, case and point when Kakashi tilted his head just so at the Kaguya Survivor she had her answer "So you lot aren't lazing about the whole time the exams are going on" Kakashi snorted.

Not telling the truth "Whatever Kakashi like you would have let that happen anyway, we could have done whatever training you want to give us in the village just as much as we could out here" Sasuke scoffed.

"That's right, but still your taking us out of the village, which means there's an underlying reason" Naruto nodded, unfortunately though he wasn't able to figure out that reason which sucked, but on the bright side neither could Sasuke.

While completely underestimating Sakura's analytical mind "Good grief their a handful aren't they Kakashi-san" Kimimaro chuckled softly at the boys of the team, earning a pat on the shoulder before glancing at the lone girl.

Who met his gaze before giving him a small smile the only one not trying to make wildly exaggerated guesses like Naruto and Sasuke were "Either way this will be exciting and fruitful I'm sure" Sakura shrugged, having already figured out the underlying reason.

Like that they continued their trek getting further and further away from the Leaf Village as they went, along the way though they made one more stop to have a quick fifteen minute break before ultimately deciding to stop for the day two hours after that.

And Sakura was never more grateful that she was in charge of making breakfast than now as she plopped down gracelessly, body and joints aching which was worse due to her condition while Sasuke disappeared to hunt for dinner with Kimimaro on his heels this time.

"How you doing Sakura-chan" the silver haired Jonin frowned, maybe he had pushed her to hard, considering the way her breathing was irregular, at his question though Sakura perked up and aimed a bright smile at him.

Before answering "Just fine Kakashi-sensei, once we're eating and I'm able to take my medicine the symptoms will be suppressed" the rose haired Nara assured, seeing the concern in his visible obsidian iris.

Relieved at that he settled listening as Naruto pulled Sakura into some sort of conversation and after a moment he realized the boy was planning a prank on Sasuke, who decided to return after being gone for fifteen minutes "Took you long enough" the Uzumaki teased.

Still having lots of energy and got a glare "I'd like to see you try and catch fish when it's practically on the verge of being pitch black Naruto and see how long it takes you" the Uchiha grunted getting a fire going quickly before spearing the fish he'd caught on sticks.

"Now, now what's important is that you were able to that's all" the sole surviving Kaguya placated, inwardly wondering how Sakura hadn't gone insane due to their antics yet, because sometimes even he was sorely tempted to duct-tape their mouths shut.

Then as if answering his own inward question he realized that Naruto and Sasuke were terrified of Sakura for some reason that he didn't know about and settled down to eat dinner with the members of Team Seven.

Did their survival training end there, oh no, because as soon as they were finished eating Kakashi dragged them all onto their feet "Never let your guard down, so always make sure you set up traps to protect yourself during your most vulnerable hours" Kakashi intoned seriously.

Wanting to stress the particular importance of this lesson to them in the only way he could by being completely serious about it "Understood Kakashi-sensei" Sakura nodded, eyeing him a little warily as she went around with her teammates, setting up traps.

"And there all done, now what, should we set up a rotational watch or something" Sasuke asked once he was sure all manner of protection had been set up, thankfully though that wasn't something Kakashi was going to make them do just yet it seemed.

For they were all finally allowed to lay down in their sleeping bags to get some shut eye "Goodnight Sakura-chan, Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei, Kimimaro" Naruto yawned, telling everyone goodnight before closing his eyes and drifting off into a restful sleep.

Sakura and Sasuke soon followed him "Well, guess they were tired" Kimimaro commented brow quirked at the trio in slight amusement before laying down to get some sleep himself, leaving Kakashi to watch over his students before dozing off an hour later himself.

Morning dawned bright and early the next day and Sakura was one of the first two people awake, reminding her that it was finally her turn to make a meal, so completely forgetting that a certain someone was supposed to go with her, she bounded off in search of something to catch.

Only to freeze when a twig snapped right behind her "Did you forget Sakura-san that I was supposed to go with each of you" the ivory haired teen's voice reached her ears, calming her drastically as she realized it wasn't an enemy trying to sneak up on her.

Though she did face him with a sheepish smile "Sorry Kimimaro-san I did kind of for a moment there" the rosette apologized, walking at a moderately easy pace now instead of the excited one of a few minutes ago.

"Easy to understand…Sakura-san do I still frighten you" Kimimaro nodded, before trailing off and asking a question he'd wanted to ask for awhile, but this was the first time he'd been alone with the girl since he had been sent to technically kidnap her back in Wave.

Immediately she froze again "Not as much I guess, though I am still wary, I can't forget being pursued you know" Sakura shrugged lightly, not wanting to lie but not sugar-coating things for him either and thankfully he understood that.

Four minutes later she saw movement out of the corner of her eye so she armed herself with a kunai, spread out her senses, then tossed her weapon straight into the bushes situated on her left "Good aiming there Sakura-san" the Kaguya survivor clapped quietly.

When she returned after a second with a boar piglet "I practiced a lot is all" the pink haired Nara blushed softly in response, then headed over to the right where a patch of wild rosemary was growing and picked some.

What was even more surprising was when she also found some wild daikon, before grabbing a pail of water then decided it was time to get back to camp and went about starting a fire and whipping up a most glorious breakfast in the form of daikon and boar meat soup.

Enticing the stomachs of Naruto and Sasuke to growl and rouse them from their sleep "Mm smells good" the Uzumaki hummed as he stretched before finally opening his eyes, making him realize they weren't having any regular old breakfast of fish.

But it was something entirely different "Are you always an over-achiever Sakura" the Uchiha asked staring at bubbling soup over the fire seconds before it was declared done, prompting a giggle from Sakura.

Who spooned out a bowl for herself first and left the rest to the guys "Now, now maybe Sakura-chan just wanted to treat us" the Copy Ninja chuckled, ruffling their hair gently as he got his bowl of soup next.

He was also the second one to try it and found the taste very delicious "Do you take lessons from someone perhaps Sakura-san" Kimimaro inquired, once the rest of the soup had been dished out to him, Naruto and Sasuke, leaving none left for seconds.

She looked at him in surprise "This is actually the first time I've ever cooked anything remotely edible, not that I've ever tried cooking before to be honest" Sakura admitted, all she'd wanted was to eat something that wasn't fish again.

"Like I said you three, you learn something new about yourselves every day" Kakashi shook his head very surprised, but he knew by the time this little training trip/test for Kimimaro was over, all three of his students would be experts on cooking or at least intermediary cooks.

Soon enough the five of them were taking down their protections and removing every trace of them ever being there that they could "Okay lets hit the road" Sasuke declared, running a critical eye over their camping spot.

In hopes that nothing telling was being left behind "Yeah you know" Naruto cheered, his regular excitable self, Kakashi inwardly groaned, wondering how he'd gotten stuck with Kushina's child as one of his students in the first place.

~Three Days later~

They'd been gone a total of four days now and by this point hunting and making meals for themselves and setting up traps was properly ingrained into them "Next Lesson…basic first aide, never know when one of you might be injured on a mission" the Copy Ninja announced.

Remembering that C turned A rank mission, prompting them all to shudder "Are you saying we're all going to learn how to wrap injuries and the like Kakashi" the second to last Uchiha narrowed his ebony orbs on his sensei.

"Not just that, CPR, mouth to mouth resuscitation, how to remove poisons from your system, all of this is important and you three, four should know it backwards, forwards, and sideways" Kakashi informed.

Stunning his students who eyed each other with red faces "But Sasuke and I are guys Kakashi-sensei, we can't just kiss each other" the blonde knucklehead grimaced, looking repulsed by the idea of mouth to mouth resuscitation.

Kimimaro bit back a laugh at the disgusted looks the boys were sporting while the lone girl was listening with rapt attention an excited twinkle in her emerald orbs "Quit whining you two, if Kakashi-sensei says we're going to learn, we have no choice but to do it" the rosette scolded.

Getting tired of their complaining after five minutes of them trying to talk their sensei out of learning this stuff, immediately Naruto and Sasuke shut their mouths and edged away from her "I see now, how it is your able to reign them in" the ivory haired teen commented.

Understanding in that moment why it was Sakura was the only one able to keep Naruto and Sasuke from shooting off at the mouth all the time, all she had to do was say one thing, give them a certain look and wham they were blissfully silent.

His statement got him a glare though but they kept their mouths shut as Kakashi handed out bandage rolls "Learning how to properly dress wounds out in the field will be the defining factor between life or death remember that Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura" the Copy Ninja warned.

Making them practice wrapping different body parts on each other for the next two hours until their fingers were sore, before he clapped, switching them to teaching them CPR and the most dreaded mouth to mouth resuscitation, even Kimimaro wasn't exempt.

"Can we take a break now, it is lunch after all Kakashi-sensei" Naruto whined, wanting to get rid of the feeling of pressing his lips against Sasuke's for a practice enactment of breathing air into his lungs and he hoped he never had to do that to anyone else, proving his immaturity.

Thankfully Kakashi relented and with Kimimaro, quickly escaped from their camp to hunt for food "Guh gross Naruto had bad breath" Sasuke burst out so unlike himself, and Sakura took pity on him and gave him a mint candy that he took and ate gratefully.

Off to the side Kakashi was inwardly cackling like a maniac at their antics "I can't imagine any of us had nice smelling breath Sasuke, so don't just call Naruto out on it" Sakura commented after a few minutes earning a sheepish grimace from Sasuke who finally settled.

Eight minutes later Naruto was back, this time with rabbits, then after lunch Kakashi sent them into the forest a clone of him on each of their heels to look for medicinal herbs that would draw poison out of wounds.

Until he finally gave them a break for the day and they flopped down utterly exhausted "You're a demon Kakashi-sensei" the blonde huffed and puffed, head pounding from trying to process everything he'd learned that day.

"Maybe but you three will be better off for it, don't you agree Kimimaro-kun, Sakura-chan" Kakashi shrugged unsympathetically, glancing to the two who were the most mature out of the five of them barring himself.

His kunoichi popped up in response, already nodding to their chagrin, "Ha ha" the Uchiha rolled his eyes as he mockingly laughed before pushing himself into a sitting position and finally got back up on his feet to go look for their dinner.

"Looks like it's a vegetable night" Kimimaro said when they returned, with only vegetables such as potatoes, carrots and radishes, that were slathered in seasonal herbs like thyme and parsley and roasted over the fire as opposed to being speared.

No one complained though because the vegetables were healthy and nutritious and sacrificing one night to just have them wouldn't hurt anyone "Hey Kakashi-sensei you think I can write a message to my Aunt to let her know how we're doing" the pinkette asked suddenly.

Just a few minutes before their dinner was to be declared done cooking "Sure go ahead Sakura-chan, I for one don't want her to think that I've forbidden you from updating her and all that because I don't want to have my head bitten off" the Copy Ninja intoned dryly.

Making her giggle as she stood and flashed through the hand signs necessary and placed her hand on the ground once finished to summon one of her summons and out of the smoke came an unknown doe "Hello Sakura-sama I am Kojika" the doe introduced herself with a bow of her head.

Sakura squealed quietly in delight in response, followed by spending about a minute running her fingers over Kojika and taking in the feel of the does soft ivory fur before handing over the message she'd written for her aunt and giving the instructions to deliver it.

With that the doe was gone in a plume of smoke and she sat to eat now that dinner was ready to be eaten "So how long have you had your summons Sakura-san" the Kaguya survivor questioned having wondered since that time back in Wave.

She was interrupted from answering because Kojika chose that moment to return with a message from Yoshino "If you please Sakura-sama I'll be returning to the forest now" Kojika announced taking her leave of her summoners presence as the girl read the message from her aunt.

"Of course Kojika-chan and thank you, also for your question Kimimaro-san the amount of time we've known each other give or take a few days" Sakura smiled at the doe before answering Kimimaro's question.

Prompting her teammates to chime in "Yeah that's right, her Uncle suggested she sign on with them even, the Doe you just met is one of the many she's just able to summon even" Naruto explained getting a second wind of energy.

Their other teammate not amused by it "Don't go asking to sign on or anything, because the summons are strictly for in clan use since Sakura's from a clan herself the one the Deer have aligned themselves with anyway" Sasuke said unnecessarily cryptic.

And the teenager creased his forehead "I didn't realize you were from a clan Sakura-san" Kimimaro admitted, indicating how little he actually knew about the people he was around day in and day out nowadays anyway.

"It's alright Kimimaro-kun no ones taken the time to explain these things to you after all but yes Sakura-chan's from a clan, as are Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun" Kakashi tapped the teen on the shoulder before clearing his throat in indication that they needed to set up protection.

The next morning it was back to first aide practice and the dreaded resuscitation practice, which they stayed on for an extra day just to make doubly sure the lessons were being properly ingrained into their psyche's.

Until Kakashi finally decided to move on and away from the lesson "Can you tell us more about the Uzumaki clan Kakashi-sensei, seeing as I don't know anything about myself" the blonde Uzumaki requested in a hopeful sounding tone.

Kakashi winced "Very well but that means each of you will have to give an in-depth lecture about your own clans, myself included, but the Uzumaki clan is known for their skills in fuinjutsu actually" the silver haired nin began.

Drawing his students in as they walked, them listening with rapt attention until he came to the end of the lecture "But in the end Uzushio was destroyed and the survivors of the Uzumaki clan dispersed throughout the rest of the nations" he finished.

Gesturing to Sakura "The Nara Clan, known for their intellectual abilities, tending deer surprisingly and our ability to manipulate shadows, my Uncle, Shikaku-oji-san is the current Head and Jonin Commander…." the pink haired Nara started her own lecture quite happily.

Going into great detail before ending the lecture "And that's why we share a close relationship with the Akimichi and Yamanaka clans" she declared and then it was Sasuke's turn who clearly wanted nothing to do with lecturing anyone about his clan.

But he knew he couldn't get out of it "Uchiha clan, we were known for our kekkeigenkai the Sharingan, a dojutsu that lets us enhance our abilities, copy movements and even copy jutsu just once if seen, we were part of the police force once and shared a close tie with the Senju" the Uchiha grimaced.

Doing his best to give in-depth information "But now it's on the verge of extinction much like the Uzumaki clan" he said, ending the lecture and falling eerily silent, his clan was his sore point it seemed as his teammates gave him sympathetic looks.

Last to go was Kimimaro "Not much is known, well I don't know much about the Kaguya clan beyond the fact they were a murdering lot, I spent most of my time in a cage when one day they let me out and told me to fight" the Kaguya intoned flatly.

"That's when I found out that I could wield the very rare kekkeigenkai of the clan Shikotsumyaku, by the time morning came I was the only one left, the others were dead and I distinctly remembering wandering aimlessly until I met Zabuza and Haku" he shrugged.

Kakashi shook his head but held true to his promise of telling them about his own clan before a silence descended upon the five of them for the next hour or so, until a blonde knucklehead had a question in regard to something Sakura said about her clan.

"Hold on if the Nara Clan shares a close tie with those other two clans, how come I never saw you hanging out with food-boy or that loudmouth banshee like Shikamaru did" Naruto frowned, staring at Sakura.

Who pursed her lips "Think about it Naruto-kun, everyone besides Shikamaru and Shino-kun treated me like I had the plague remember, including Ino, Choji however was Shikamaru's best friend but we never really hung out together" Sakura rolled her eyes.

Naruto visibly flinched as did Sasuke "For that we are sorry Sakura, we'll be sorry until the day we die I suspect" Sasuke sighed, hating how he'd treated his former classmate turned teammate up until the moment they actually became teammates, Naruto in a similar boat.

Before he could ask Kimimaro stopped himself in the nick of time "Anyway so what's the next thing your going to teach them Kakashi-san" Kimimaro asked of the Jonin instead, seeing as they'd been walking for awhile now.

They'd also been gone from the village for a week now "Lets see, hmm, survival skills, check, first-aide, check, avoiding detection, check already, how about learning how to pair your chakra natures to create a combo attack" Kakashi listed, going through what he'd already taught them.

The list was surprisingly extensive to Kimimaro's surprise "That sounds totally bad-ass Kakashi-sensei" the knucklehead shouted exuberantly, only to be whacked over the head by Sakura earning a sheepish smile from the boy.

"Alright then, we'll set up camp here, eat lunch first, then Sasuke, Naruto you'll be the first to try combining your chakra natures" the Copy Ninja informed, leaning against a rock now that he'd decided on what else to teach them.

Which came surprisingly easy to his ultimate shock "Joy" the raven of Team Seven snorted, not letting on that he was equally as excited to do this training because finally they were getting to the good stuff.

Nine minutes later lunch had been devoured which meant it was now time to try a combo jutsu "You can do it Naruto, Sasuke, I know you can" the pink haired Nara cheered when they eyed each other dubiously, unsure if this was really going to work.

But they started forming hand signs anyway "Katon: Fireball Jutsu/Futon: Gale Palm Jutsu" the boys called out in sync of one another, the two jutsu's combining into one massive one, that shot through the air like a bullet utterly decimating some tree's.

Kakashi oh so helpfully used a suiton jutsu to put out the remaining fire before it spread while Naruto and Sasuke stared at the area with wide slack jawed expressions "And you can do that with any jutsu" Kakashi smirked.

Pleased when Sasuke realized something and turned to Sakura "Do one with me, use your water nature and pair it with my lightning nature" Sasuke requested, already going over the limitless possibilities this entailed for them.

"Okay then Suiton: Bubble Stream Jutsu" Sakura flashed through the hand signs necessary for one of her tamer water style jutsu's, which was then paired with one of Sasuke's Raiton jutsu's, making the jutsu more lethal than before.

And as Sasuke soon found out his lightning nature could even be paired with Naruto's wind nature chakra to make a rather shocking attack "My turn with Sakura-chan" Naruto said once the jutsu had faded.

Even Kimimaro got in on the action seeing as he had earth and fire nature chakra's himself until they were sufficiently exhausted of chakra "One question, how is it you have so much chakra Naruto-san" Kimimaro asked.

Immediately he knew he shouldn't have said anything because Naruto clamped his mouth shut and looked everywhere but at him, Kakashi eerily tense for whatever reason, indicating that he also knew the reason but they weren't going to find out any time soon as dinner was made and they all went to bed after a long tiring day.


	9. Chapter 8

Before Team Seven knew it another week had gone by on them, Kakashi had taught them a variety of new things, ranging from advancing their sensory skills to feel up to Jonin level shinobi, genjutsu, Sakura proving to have a higher aptitude for it than even Sasuke.

Different styles of taijutsu, fuinjutsu the pride of the Uzumaki clan and that was about it so far, one thing that remained steady though was Sakura constantly sending a message to her aunt back in leaf updating her on how they were all doing.

"Okay Kids, why don't you try suggesting something for once that you want to learn" Kakashi suggested, not that he was running out of idea's but he didn't want to dictate what was taught the entire time they were gone either.

Each of them looking a little ragged if he was being honest, considering they hadn't had a chance to have a shower in over two weeks besides taking a dip in a chilly slow moving stream "How about evasion" Sakura offered after thinking about it for a few minutes.

Immediately that idea was rejected "Not a chance Sakura-chan, I mean do you want him to throw weapons at you, that hurts you know" Naruto frowned sternly, suddenly not liking the look in his sensei's visible eye.

"Could be fruitful, knowing how to dodge is a necessary skill you know Naruto-san" Kimimaro took Sakura's side over the whole matter, plus he was sure Kakashi wouldn't seriously harm his students, plus they would finally get to practice their first-aide skills.

Naruto gulped as Kakashi armed himself with some shuriken "I suggest we start running now" Sasuke warned, ducking low as the projectile weapon came flying straight at him, poor Naruto he actually bit the dirt trying to avoid getting hit.

While Sakura simply spun gracefully out of the way, even Kimimaro was caught up in the volley of shuriken that was suddenly being thrown at them "Just had to ask for evasion training didn't you Sakura-chan" the blonde sulked when the training sessions had ended after forty-five minutes.

Sakura having proved to be quite flexible so she was without any cuts from the shuriken "Quit whining Naruto and hold still so I can put ointment on that" the rosette ordered simply, applying her newly acquired first-aide skills.

"Plus Kakashi wasn't really trying to hurt us anyway, normally weapons are thrown harder than that and we wouldn't get any forewarning so the whole evasion training wasn't bad itself" the raven of Team Seven commented.

Rubbing some smashed up herbs on his calf muscles after tending his cuts "Exactly and expect evasion training to last throughout the rest of our trip understand" the Copy Ninja informed, deciding that his genin would benefit from it.

Kimimaro chuckled at Naruto's horrified expression but he wouldn't dare complain especially around Sakura "Think about it, the next time the Chunin Exams do come around, you'll be able to participate and be more highly advanced than your former classmates" the Kaguya survivor pointed out.

Earning a grudging nod from the boy as they resumed their trek in a random direction after resting for a bit "By the way neither you or Sasuke told me what you want to learn Naruto-kun" Kakashi chimed in after a short period in which no one had spoken.

"You sure Kakashi-sensei, cause what I want to learn is that cool body flicker trick that all you Jonin like to use" Naruto frowned not entirely sure if his sensei was being truthful, but if Kakashi-sensei actually did teach him then there was more than just that, that he wanted to learn.

Kakashi shrugged "After lunch then" Sasuke inquired, inwardly thanking Naruto for suggesting that, because that was something he wanted to learn how to do as well, less than an hour later they stopped to make camp and have lunch.

Before gathering in front of Kakashi to learn the body flicker technique "Just remember guys it's not a space-time ninjutsu like the flying thunder god jutsu, it's a high speed technique that allows you to move at well high speeds for short distances" Sakura warned.

Already knowing the ins and outs of the technique even though she'd never been taught "Nicely said Sakura-san" Kimimaro clapped lightly, having been taught by Zabuza, his signature substance had been auburn colored leaves.

So seeing as he already knew he was made to help teach the genin until they were popping around in plumes of smoke, getting the technique down easily, though they were still going to practice any chance they got.

As for Sasuke, he suggested they all learn more about avoiding detection "Interesting, why because I already taught you this" the silver haired nin commented, eyeing the boy in confusion not understanding in the least.

Until he spoke "Well sure you already taught us Kakashi but that was just suppressing our chakra and scents, but there are many different methods to avoiding detection aren't there, that's what I want to learn so that we have more than one option to choose from" the Uchiha grumbled.

"Hey that's a great idea Sasuke, come on Kakashi-sensei I wanna learn to you know" the Uzumaki piped in, jumping aboard the bandwagon to learning other methods of avoiding detection so Kakashi had no choice but to relent.

In actuality not that he would let on, he was quite pleased they were so eager to learn more methods of defending themselves "Okay I think that's enough for the day for me at least" the rose haired Nara said near dinner time and completely exhausted.

Pale as a ghost, indicating that she'd been pushed to far that day so immediately Naruto and Sasuke settled down "Just like that huh" the ivory haired teen chuckled as Sasuke vanished to hunt for food, him hurrying after the boy.

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end sooner or later because the following day brought trouble in the form of two Kumogakure shinobi alongside their leader the Raikage and a group of irate low class ranking rogues.

"Fuck" Kakashi cursed so unlike himself as he grabbed all three of his students and body flickered them to safety, Kimimaro able to protect himself adequately enough that he was able to get away without suffering any injuries.

Then once the genin were safely away he jumped into the battle himself "Don't worry, your sensei isn't known for being Kakashi of the Sharingan eye for nothing" Kimimaro assured when he saw their matching worried expressions.

Sakura clenched her hands into fists "Be ready just in case, like Kakashi-sensei said we can't let down our guards, we must look at all the variables, not just one" Sakura exhaled, arming herself with her sword not having had a chance to ask for training with it yet.

"We understand Sakura" Sasuke grimaced, clutching a kunai tightly as they stood back to back, keeping an eye on their surroundings as a battle raged on less than fifteen feet away from them, thanks to this formation they were able to see what was happening.

And were able to avoid the stray jutsu that came their way until it seemed like the battle was coming to an end "Can we come out now Kakashi-sensei" Naruto inquired, eyeballing the foreign shinobi warily from where they were currently stood.

Seemingly all low class rogues taken down and tied up "Kakashi Hatake, what the hell is the Copy Ninja doing so far away from his village with little brats" the big bulky looking guy commented, looking like he was going to attack regardless of their sensei helping out in the fight.

"My students Raikage-sama and we're currently in the middle of a training trip" the silver haired nin explained carefully, gesturing for them to come stand at his side reluctantly, even though he wished Naruto had remained quiet.

They would have gone unnoticed that way but soon his students were stood next to him all of them rather subdued in the face of unknown shinobi "Students huh, I didn't think you were the type of man to want students" the Raikage scoffed.

Being purposefully disrespectful but the genin didn't so much as make a peep "Usually I wouldn't be but these three are special cases you could say" Kakashi said, hoping the kids kept their silence until the other man was gone.

Who narrowed his beady black eyes on them in the next moment "Special cases, they don't look that way to me cause all I see are scrawny, naive, mouthy little brats who know nothing of the world" Ay taunted.

Obviously trying to get a rise out of them "I hate to interrupt your conversation but we have a slight issue" the sole surviving Kaguya called, informing them all of the incoming chakra, apparently the rogues had backup laying in wait, wonderful.

And this time Kakashi couldn't get his students out of the way quick enough prompting them to scatter in different directions "Sasuke" the rosette called softly already flashing through hand signs as the enemy boxed them in somehow.

Immediately Sasuke understood because just as she finished the hand signs for the water wall jutsu he completed his own "Raiton: Lightning Stream Jutsu" the Uchiha sighed, enveloping them in a wall of water that shocked the hell of any idiot who tried to touch it.

Up next was him and Naruto as he nodded to the boy in question, speeding through the necessary hand signs for the great whirlwind jutsu that Naruto paired with "Futon: Multi-layered Jutsu" the Uzumaki yelled as he finished the hand signs.

Creating a gigantic whirlwind of fire that swept outwards taking out all in it's path before dying out after a couple of minutes "Doton: Bedrock Coffin" Kimimaro swept in, dragging the unsuspecting into the earth and burying them alive.

Ending the fight simultaneously at the same time and Kakashi couldn't help it, he just started laughing like a crazy maniac "You three…I don't think I've ever been prouder of anyone in my entire life than I am of you three" Kakashi laughed, ruffling their hair fondly.

Purposefully ignoring the Raikage for the moment who was wearing the most stunned expression which made the whole thing even funnier to him "Gah come on Kakashi-sensei we're not babies, we don't need head pats" Naruto whined.

His grin stretching ever wider in response "Dobe's right, we're not little children anymore Kakashi" Sasuke grunted, dodging his hand, already applying the evasion training they'd been undertaking the last couple days.

"More for me then" Sakura giggled, the only one to not have a problem getting her head patted like this, simply because it made her feel good on the inside knowing that her sensei was proud of them like he currently was.

Eventually Kakashi did stop to face the Raikage again "Special indeed, it seems I owe you brats one, otherwise that fight would have taken way longer than it just did, so what would you like to ask for" Ay rubbed his chin realizing there was more than met the eye with these genin.

So it was in his best interests to be friendly with them because if they were this powerful now, what would they be like when fully grown "Ask for, huh, what's he talking about" the blonde scratched his head in confusion.

And the girl sighed "Knucklehead, Raikage-sama is saying that he owes us for helping him just now and personally I wouldn't ask for anything myself" the rosette narrowed her eyes being smarter than the average person would be.

Because anything they asked for would later on down the road probably become a favor, basically a double edged blade that would get them into some big trouble "Hahaha smart little girly aren't you but in this case I won't be asking for any favor in return" the Raikage laughed.

"Then how about just a simple thank you" the raven haired preteen suggested, it being all they should really ask for to be honest, considering the Raikage was the one who'd brought trouble their way in the first place.

Fortunately Naruto and Sakura were in agreement so the Raikage nodded "Thank you then brats, Hatake" Ay relented and with that they went their separate ways to Kakashi's relief before turning his attention on the genin.

Who straightened before he was leading them away from the area not wanting to stick around for more rogues "At this point I think we should start heading back in the direction of Leaf" the Copy Ninja said.

Unwilling to risk further confrontations with the bloody freaking Raikage or any other shinobi that hated Leaf Shinobi to be honest "Good idea" the Kaguya survivor nodded as they turned back the way they'd come.

Was that the end of their troubles, oh no and it seemed things were only just getting started because less than two days later, after Sakura had asked for an extensive kenjutsu lesson, neither she or Kimimaro returned after leaving to find something to make for breakfast.

Kakashi's only forewarning that something was afoot being the loud scream that could only be from Sakura, then he was on his feet barking orders at the two boys to follow him, then he was running through the forest at high speeds.

Arriving on scene he found Sakura backed against a tree, squaring off against what had to be the largest black bear in existence, Kimimaro must have been taken off guard or something because he was currently unconscious a few feet away from them.

Though the situation wasn't as dire as he thought it was going to be, he still lent a helping hand and rescued his kunoichi "Okay there Sakura-chan" Kakashi asked, subtly looking her over for any injuries and finding none.

"Yeah I'm okay, Kimimaro-san's not though and sorry for screaming like that, the ruddy bear just startled us is all" Sakura admitted feeling stupid, she could have taken the thing down herself, instead she went and screamed like a scaredy-cat.

Even as she cut off a large chunk of meat to use for breakfast while Kakashi helped Kimimaro back up onto his feet "Basically what she said Kakashi-san, I didn't have time to use Shikotsumyaku before it took a swipe at me" Kimimaro grimaced.

"Don't feel to bad Sakura-chan, Kimimaro, I probably would have screamed myself" Naruto chimed in wanting to cheer the duo up who were most likely beating themselves up inwardly for such a rookie mistake.

A moment later they were back at camp "By the way do bears normally get that big or what cause that's just plain disturbing, knowing an animal could be five times larger than me" Sasuke shuddered not entirely unaffected himself.

Kakashi had no answer for him "Could have been an experiment or something Sasuke-kun, try not to think to much about it alright" the silver haired jonin said after a couple of minutes as Sakura made meat and lentil stew, having found wild lentil.

"Just so you know I'm going to be taking a bath tonight, I found a hotspring if you can believe it" the pinkette chattered suddenly, narrowing her eyes at Kakashi, the one most likely to object, but she was feeling utterly grimy and she wouldn't let him say no.

She wasn't the only one "I believe after all we've learned I think you could let us have this one thing Kakashi, you could consider it our reward or something" the Uchiha interjected, not wanting to pass on the chance to be actually clean for the first time since they'd left.

Taking a dip in streams just didn't cut it "Yeah cause I highly doubt you want us to walk back into the village looking like ragamuffins" the Uzumaki grinned, feeling somewhat mischievous in lieu of the news that there was a natural hotspring nearby.

"What's the harm, Sakura-san has her summons and the four of us could bathe together anyway Kakashi-san, preventing any trouble from happening" even the sole Kaguya survivor got in on it so he had no choice.

He held up his hand when the younger ones started bouncing around "If you can prove over the next couple of days that everything you've been taught has been successfully ingrained into your bodies and minds" Kakashi declared.

Giving them an ultimatum despite Sakura's glaring "B..But that means doing that mouth to mouth resuscitation thing again" Naruto whined suddenly in realization, if he had to sacrifice his mouth just for a bath it wasn't worth it.

Sakura's glare intensified "Regardless of that we're all in need of a bath Naruto so quit complaining or else" Sasuke hissed at the blonde not wanting to him to suffer a concussion courtesy of Sakura's fist.

Reluctantly Naruto shut up subdued in the face of his teammates, one who could be very wrathful if pissed off "Good grief" Kimimaro shook his head and then right after breakfast they were made to demonstrate the first thing they'd learned.

Easily done because they did it every morning, noon and night, followed by setting up traps to ensure their protection, each of them adding their own unique twist to impress upon their sensei that they really were learning what he was teaching them.

Next was basic first aide which was done before it was lunch time "Not bad kids, but after lunch you'll be showing me your evasion skills and this time I won't be going easy on you I want to really see you doing your best out there" the Copy Ninja informed.

"How can you say that, what if Sakura-chan has an asthma attack because you pushed her to hard or something" the blonde scowled not liking the sound of their next task or the tone Kakashi had taken with them.

Only to get whacked "Enemy ninja won't take it easy on you just because you have the potential to collapse Naruto, that was the point of all this training, if we can't dodge then that means we haven't really learned the art of evasion" the rosette scolded.

Seriously all she'd wanted was to take a nice, relaxing bath in a hotspring but no Kakashi just had to be a demon and tell them they had to show him they had learned everything he'd taught them so far, including the things they'd asked him to teach them.

But like a good genin she would do everything asked and more, including showing off her superior dodging skills, Naruto and Sasuke weren't as flexible as her after all, none of them aware that they were being watched, until the evasion training ended, Kakashi grudgingly praising them.

With that they were able to sit down and relax for a little bit until Kakashi got another wild hair up his ass "Tell me one thing you learned about the Uchiha Clan, Naruto, Sakura, Kimimaro" Kakashi inquiring.

Obviously wanting to see if the in-depth lectures had sunk in any "Their Dojutsu lets them copy movements and jutsu's if seen just the once and they remember it for all time" Sakura chimed in first, that being the thing that had stuck out the most to her.

"The Senju and Uchiha Clans we're once bitter enemies, that being said, they went on to build Konohagakure at some point as allies, which is why they were in charge of policing the streets, because of Tobirama Senju the Second Hokage" the ivory haired teen explained.

Having memorized every word of the lecture about the different clans he'd learned about "Uh Sasuke's Dad was the Head of the Clan who was called wicked eyed Fugaku" Naruto spluttered his way through but wasn't wrong.

Sasuke cringed at hearing his Father's name though "Nara Clan, Sasuke, Naruto, Kimimaro" the silver haired Jonin said next, planning on asking each of them that way he knew the lecture hadn't simply gone in one ear and out the other, for Naruto at least.

"Close ties with the Akimichi and Yamanaka clans because of their famed Ino-Shika-Cho trio" Sasuke sighed, glad that no one was commenting about his less than happy expression upon hearing people even his teammates speak about his massacred clan.

Naruto scowled at him "Their ability to manipulate shadows" the blonde shrugged, only remembering that much else, though if he really thought about it he could remember much more, but for now that would suffice hopefully.

Last was Kimimaro "They own a medicinal research lab in the mountains that has very little security so it gets raided a lot" the Kaguya survivor said, easily remembering, the next clan was the Uzumaki clan "Primarily ruled by a matriarch" he listed, going first this time.

"Known for their sealing jutsu which made them feared and ultimately led to their destruction" the rose haired Nara explained, feeling bad for Naruto a little bit, Sasuke, Kimimaro and her sensei as well because their clans were practically extinct while her clan was still thriving.

Her Uzumaki teammate mumbled something about the Uzumaki's being a clan full of redheads while Sasuke said this "Could wield something known as the chakra chains" the Uchiha grunted, getting tired of this already.

And finally things about the Hatake clan which were easy and Kakashi was satisfied, though now he would have to go about teaching his students about the other clans eventually but for now they'd sufficiently pleased him.

~Two Days Later~

Once they'd finished demonstrating everything, ranging from combining their chakra natures, executing the body flicker technique, using their sensory skills to hunt, animals were harder to sense after all, performing a couple of genjutsu, though Naruto had no skill for illusion jutsu's.

The different hand to hand combat styles he'd taught them, avoiding detection the multiple ways he'd showed them, drawing seals, and lastly the kenjutsu "Okay fine, tonight you can have a bath" Kakashi grumbled, pretending to be irritated.

Apparently he wasn't able to fool his students anymore as they simply rolled their eyes, even Kimimaro was in on it this time "About damn time Kakashi-sensei" Sakura stuck her tongue out, intent on being lazy for the rest of the day until it was time for her bath in the hotspring.

"Honestly where did you get that mouth of yours Sakura" Sasuke intoned incredulously, never having heard her cuss as much until they'd all become a team, then it was like she cussed every few sentences to his horror.

Sakura promptly dissolved into giggles that made it impossible for him to remain as straight faced as he usually was all the time case and point as the corner of his mouth quirked up into a partly amused smirk.

Kakashi taking his turn to roll his eyes "Probably from us, who knows what she could have picked up being classmates with you, me and Inuzuka, the three of us were probably the most foul-mouthed academy students in history" Naruto mused out loud.

Sakura's laughter reaching an all new high at that until she started wheezing then it wasn't as funny anymore "Okay there Sakura-san" Kimimaro rubbed the girl gently on the back as she got her unexpected attack under control.

Thankfully though it wasn't bad like the one she'd had back in Wave but she wasn't laughing like before, Sakura did nod though at his question, still not a one of them aware that they were being watched by a most unexpected person.

Then right after dinner Sakura popped up sporting a determined expression "I'm going first and none of you are allowed to complain about it" the pink haired Nara intoned edgily before stomping off, chakra un-suppressed.

Imagine her surprise when upon arriving at the hotspring she found it already occupied by two women "Don't be shy brat come join us" the busty blonde with almond colored irises beckoned gracefully.

But the girl was wary "We mean no harm really, we just want to talk to you a little is all" the ravenette with the clearly older woman assured, the both of them had been watching the group quite avidly the last few days after all.

"How come your hiding your chakra then and how did my sensei not sense you" the girl narrowed her vivid colored orbs, not realizing who she was currently speaking to, considering the woman wasn't mentioned much unless it had to do with her legendary skills.

At her question the older woman sighed "Because brat I didn't want to be bother, and your sensei probably couldn't sense me because I'm a lot stronger than him now get in or I'll drag you in clothes and all" the honey eyed woman snapped.

So against her better judgement Sakura disrobed and happily sunk into the heated water "Not to be rude or anything by why do you want to talk to me and not my sensei per-say" Sakura questioned after a couple of minutes in which she'd scrubbed her skin clean of dirt build-up.

"Ah well lets just say we saw your training session the other day, the one where your sensei had you dodge and we were more than impressed at your skill, are you a medic" the raven haired woman explained sheepishly before asking her question.

Sakura straightened at that "Hardly, if I were a medic I would have already figured out a way to get rid of my condition so that I can be healthy and not have to take medicine all the damn time" the fuscia haired Nara scoffed.

Both women across from her frowned "Condition, you look perfectly healthy to me" the ebony haired woman commented not seeing anything wrong with the girl in front of her, while her mentor gave her a much more thorough look.

Honey eyes widening "Tell me brat how long have you been suffering from it" the blonde woman asked, seeing what her attendant did not, which put a slight damper on her plans, but if she could get the girl to tell her what was wrong she might be able to heal her, maybe as long as it didn't involve blood.

"From the moment I was born, I have Churg-Strauss Syndrome, the rare variation of it called Vasculitis, it's been a right pain in the ass I tell you" Sakura scowled, making the blonde burst out laughing until she blushed furiously in realization.

Then a moment later the woman calmed "Okay brat here's the deal, I will attempt to heal you, get rid of the disease on a molecular level by burning it out of you with chakra, I won't promise the operation will be a success but I want to train you" the blonde announced.

Stunning her companion as much as it shocked Sakura "But Milady that would mean going back" the younger woman spluttered, only to get shot a look which silenced her because apparently the older of the two wasn't finished.

"I have no intention of remaining a permanent resident of Leaf, ever again, but I will go there, heal the brat and let her do the hard work to get back up to where she currently is, before taking her out of the village for a couple of years to train her" the blonde snorted.

Eyeing the brat who thankfully was keeping up with what she was saying "Tsunade-sama, that's who you are, I'm right aren't I" the pinkette said after a long drawn out silence, not sure what to think about the woman.

"Well done, yes I'm Tsunade, and this is my assistant Shizune, now enough of all this chit-chat and sitting around, hurry up and take your bath so we can get going back to Leaf" Tsunade snapped, impressed that she'd been figured out.

The girl seemed smarter than the average genin to her and she definitely didn't think she was imagining it "Now hold on a minute Milady what if her parents won't allow you to take her out of the village for training" Shizune frowned at her mentor.

But got no response while the rosette finished washing up, drying off in record time and redressing quickly afterwards, waiting patiently for them to do the same before starting back towards camp.

Kakashi shot into a standing position at the sight of them "Lady Tsunade, Shizune, what are you doing in these parts" the Copy Ninja questioned, eyeing his kunoichi who looked contemplative, she was also eerily silent to his consternation.

"Just around Hatake, around long enough to notice you training these brats, that one in particular having high dodging skills, which I'm taking an interest in" the Legendary Medical Ninja pointed at Sakura to his horror.

He didn't like how she said that in the least "Sakura is my student, so of course and by the time I'm through they all be superior at dodging to their former classmates and fellow genin" Kakashi informed bluntly.

Protective over his students especially the lone girl "Did you know about her condition" Shizune chimed in, still unable to really see any difference, the girl or rather Sakura as they'd just learned looked perfectly fine to her.

"Of course, we all do, but Sakura-chan does her best the make the most of her situation" the silver haired nin nodded, not happy because he could see where this conversation was going and how it would end as well.

Sakura pressed her lips together keeping quiet for now because she was still undecided on what to do about the woman's offer "Cool it Hatake, I'm not going to get into an argument with you, I'm just stating my interest that's all" Tsunade snapped.

A little surprised at how defensive the man was over the brat "Kakashi we're going to take a bath without you if you don't hurry up" Sasuke grumbled suddenly, glad when the suffocating chakra coming from the man dissipated some before vanishing altogether.

"Yeah and we're going to take as long as we want" Naruto sniggered, deciding now was the perfect time to execute the prank he'd promised to get Sasuke with back at the start of their trip, he probably didn't even remember which was even better.

Kakashi sighed but hurried after the two boys "Excuse me if you will Sakura-san, I'll try to make sure they don't drive Kakashi-san insane" Kimimaro bowed his head at the girl before taking off after the others to have a bath.

Tsunade narrowed almond colored irises "It's not standard to have four genin under the command of a Jonin" the ebony haired woman frowned, not understanding what was going on anymore in the least.

"Kimimaro-san is not a genin, in fact he's not a shinobi of Leaf at all, yet, this is his trial period, the main reason that Kakashi-sensei didn't tell us about was to see if he would try to run and he hasn't so he'll most likely become a shinobi once we get back" Sakura explained.

Having long since figured out the true meaning of their training trip outside the village "Really brat, so if he didn't tell you, how would you know" the busty blonde raised a pale brow, somewhat amused but not completely.

Earning a small shrug "Cause Kimimaro-san asked on the first day and Kakashi-sensei tilted his head at him subtly, I caught the action and went from there" the rose haired Nara admitted, stoking the fire absentmindedly.

Lost in thought until an unmanly scream echoed from the direction of the hotspring "DOOOOOBBEEE I'M GONNA KILL YOU" the Uchiha on her team shouted at the top of his lungs in the next moment.

Right when Naruto burst into camp, in his arms were Sasuke's clothes "Help me hide the evidence Sakura-chan" the Uzumaki demanded thrusting the articles of clothing at her before taking off running back into the forest, chakra completely suppressed.

Next to return was Kakashi who was shaking his head "You know I think I'm just going to check myself into a mental hospital, because I have to be mad to take you three on as my students" the Copy Ninja groaned.

Fifteen minutes later Kimimaro appeared dragging the two younger boys with him looking quite exasperated "Deal with them" the Kaguya survivor shoved them at their teammate, one of them practically naked, Sasuke would be if not for the small cloth that was tied around his waist.

"Why am I always having to do this….ugh fine, Naruto be a little more tactful next time, if your going to play a prank make sure the one getting pranked doesn't immediately find out and Sasuke, don't lose your temper every single time Naruto does something idiotic" Sakura scolded.

Throwing his clothes at him "Because he does it just to get a rise out of you, you know that, also another thing, running around in the forest without supervision was reckless what would you have done if something had happened, now go get dressed and think about your actions you two" the pinkette finished.

Sasuke trudging off to dress while Naruto plopped down and when Sasuke came back he joined them on the ground, completely cowed by Sakura like Naruto currently was "Alright you brats go to bed" Kakashi ordered.

Prompting them all to lay down and go to sleep like good little genin "Seems like the girl there keeps them on a short leash, I would have thought the boy there would be all pro-revenge on his brother and is that who I think" the honey eyed blonde snorted.

Eyeing the kids who were snoring softly now, except for Kimimaro "Lady Tsunade I can't tell you why Sasuke's not like that and yes he's the one but as for Sakura-chan, she's about the only one who can truly reign them in when their being like that" the silver haired Jonin sighed.

Being purposefully vague, Kimimaro inwardly lamenting at the fact that he'd probably never find out why Naruto was like he was, so decided to just lay down and go to sleep as well, closer to Sakura than usual.


End file.
